Abstract

Purpose

Safety concerns about the effects of long-term extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) exposure on human health have been raised. To explore the effects of continuous exposure to ELF-EMF on organisms for multiple generations, we selected Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism and conducted long-term continuous exposure studies for multiple generations under 20 °C, 50 Hz, and 3 mT ELF-EMF.

Materials and methods

Each generation of worms was treated with ELF-EMF from the egg in the same environment. After long-term exposure to ELF-EMF, the body length of the worms was detected, and 15th generation adult worms were selected as the research object. The ATP level and ATPase were detected, and the expression levels of genes encoding ATP synthase (r53.4, hpo-18, atp-5, unc-32, atp-3) were detected by RT-PCR. In worm’s antioxidant system, the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was detected by dichlorofluorescein staining, and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity were investigated. The expression of genes encoding superoxide dismutase (sod-1, sod-2, sod-3) was detected in adult (60 h) worms of the fifteenth generation (F15).

Results

These results showed that the body length of F15 worms increased significantly, ATP content increased significantly, ATP synthase activity was significantly enhanced, and the expression levels of the r53.4, hpo-18, atp-5, and atp-3 genes encoding ATPase were significantly upregulated in F15 worms. In addition, SOD activity increased significantly, and the expression levels of the sod-1, sod-2, and sod-3 genes encoding SOD were also significantly upregulated in F15 worms.

Conclusions

These results indicated that continuous exposure to 50 Hz, 3 mT ELF-EMF for multiple generations can increase the body length of worms, induce the synthesis of ATP and enhance the antioxidant capacity of worms.

摘要

目的：关于长期极低频电磁场（ELF-EMF）暴露对人体健康的影响，已经引起了安全方面的关注。为了探索连续暴露于ELF-EMF对生物多代的影响，我们选择秀丽隐杆线虫作为模型生物，并在20°C，50 Hz和3mT ELF-EMF下进行了多代的长期连续暴露研究。

材料和方法：在同一环境中，用鸡蛋中的ELF-EMF处理每一代蠕虫。长期暴露于ELF-EMF后，检测到蠕虫的体长，并选择第15代成年蠕虫作为研究对象。检测了ATP水平和ATP酶，并且通过RT-PCR检测了编码ATP合酶的基因（r53.4，hpo-18，atp-5，unc-32，atp-3）的表达水平。在蠕虫的抗氧化系统中，通过二氯荧光素染色检测活性氧（ROS）的水平，并研究了总抗氧化能力（T-AOC），超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性。编码超氧化物歧化酶的基因的表达（sod-1，sod-2，sod-3在第15代（F15）的成年（60 h）蠕虫中检测到）。

结果：这些结果表明，F15蠕虫的体长显着增加，ATP含量显着增加，ATP合酶活性显着增强，r53.4，hpo-18，atp-5和atp-3基因的表达水平F15蠕虫中编码ATPase的编码蛋白明显上调。此外，F15蠕虫中SOD活性显着增加，并且编码SOD的sod-1，sod-2和sod-3基因的表达水平也显着上调。

结论：这些结果表明，连续暴露于50 Hz，3mT ELF-EMF多个世代可以增加蠕虫的体长，诱导ATP的合成并增强蠕虫的抗氧化能力。