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Microwaves from mobile phone induce reactive oxygen species but not DNA damage, preleukemic fusion genes and apoptosis in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells

2019 · Mixed · Low evidence

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MixedLow evidencePaper 1635

UCB cells exposed to pulsed microwave signals from a GSM900/UMTS test mobile phone showed no persisting differences versus sham in DNA damage, preleukemic fusion genes, or apoptosis. ROS increased after 1 hour of UMTS exposure but was not evident 3 hours post…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2019
Study typein_vitro
Reported directionMixed
Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Microwaves from mobile phone induce reactive oxygen species but not DNA damage, preleukemic fusion genes and apoptosis in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells Durdik M, Kosik P, Markova E, Somsedikova A, Gajdosechova B, Nikitina E, Horvathova E, Kozics K, Davis D, Belyaev I. Microwaves from mobile phone induce reactive oxygen species but not DNA damage, preleukemic fusion genes and apoptosis in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 7;9(1):16182. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52389-x. Abstract Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) has been associated with the increased risk of childhood leukemia, which arises from mutations induced within hematopoietic stem cells often through preleukemic fusion genes (PFG). In this study we investigated whether exposure to microwaves (MW) emitted by mobile phones could induce various biochemical markers of cellular damage including reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA single and double strand breaks, PFG, and apoptosis in umbilical cord blood (UCB) cells including CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. UCB cells were exposed to MW pulsed signals from GSM900/UMTS test-mobile phone and ROS, apoptosis, DNA damage, and PFG were analyzed using flow cytometry, automated fluorescent microscopy, imaging flow cytometry, comet assay, and RT-qPCR. In general, no persisting difference in DNA damage, PFG and apoptosis between exposed and sham-exposed samples was detected. However, we found increased ROS level after 1 h of UMTS exposure that was not evident 3 h post-exposure. We also found that the level of ROS rise with the higher degree of cellular differentiation. Our data show that UCB cells exposed to pulsed MW developed transient increase in ROS that did not result in sustained DNA damage and apoptosis. Open access paper: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typein_vitro
Effect directionmixed
PopulationUmbilical cord blood (UCB) cells including CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells
Sample sizeNot supplied
Exposuremicrowave · 1 h UMTS exposure (ROS assessed; also assessed 3 h post-exposure)
Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

UCB cells exposed to pulsed microwave signals from a GSM900/UMTS test mobile phone showed no persisting differences versus sham in DNA damage, preleukemic fusion genes, or apoptosis. ROS increased after 1 hour of UMTS exposure but was not evident 3 hours post-exposure; ROS increase was higher with greater cellular differentiation.

Outcomes measured

  • reactive oxygen species (ROS)
  • DNA single strand breaks
  • DNA double strand breaks
  • preleukemic fusion genes (PFG)
  • apoptosis

Limitations

  • In vitro study (umbilical cord blood cells)
  • Exposure parameters such as specific frequency and SAR not reported in the abstract
  • Sample size not reported in the abstract
View raw extracted JSON
{
  "study_type": "in_vitro",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "microwave",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "1 h UMTS exposure (ROS assessed; also assessed 3 h post-exposure)"
  },
  "population": "Umbilical cord blood (UCB) cells including CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells",
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "reactive oxygen species (ROS)",
    "DNA single strand breaks",
    "DNA double strand breaks",
    "preleukemic fusion genes (PFG)",
    "apoptosis"
  ],
  "main_findings": "UCB cells exposed to pulsed microwave signals from a GSM900/UMTS test mobile phone showed no persisting differences versus sham in DNA damage, preleukemic fusion genes, or apoptosis. ROS increased after 1 hour of UMTS exposure but was not evident 3 hours post-exposure; ROS increase was higher with greater cellular differentiation.",
  "effect_direction": "mixed",
  "limitations": [
    "In vitro study (umbilical cord blood cells)",
    "Exposure parameters such as specific frequency and SAR not reported in the abstract",
    "Sample size not reported in the abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.74,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "mobile phone",
    "microwaves",
    "GSM900",
    "UMTS",
    "umbilical cord blood",
    "CD34+",
    "hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells",
    "reactive oxygen species",
    "DNA damage",
    "comet assay",
    "apoptosis",
    "preleukemic fusion genes"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "mobile-phones",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Study tests pulsed microwave signals emitted by a GSM900/UMTS test mobile phone."
    }
  ]
}
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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52389-x
PubMed: Not supplied

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