Effects of ELF EMF on c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα expressions in spleen and thymus of rat

2019 · Mixed · Low evidence

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MixedLow evidencePaper 1847

In thymus, expression levels of c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα were not significantly changed across magnetic flux densities. In spleen, RORα and c-Maf were significantly downregulated at 1 and 100 µT, and STAT6 was significantly decreased at 100 µT.

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2019

Study typeanimal

Reported directionMixed

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Effects of ELF EMF on c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα expressions in spleen and thymus of rat Mahaki H, Jabarivasal N, Sardarian K, Zamani A. The effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields on c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα expressions in spleen and thymus of rat. Electromagn Biol Med. 2019 Apr 24:1-7. doi: 10.1080/15368378.2019.1608832. Abstract The study investigated the effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) exposure at different magnetic flux densities on genes expression of transcription factor Maf (c-Maf), signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6), and retinoid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORα) in the spleen and thymus of rats. Eighty adult male rats were separated into four ELF-EMFs exposed and were exposed to magnetic flux densities of 1, 100, 500, and 2000 µT at a frequency of 50 Hz for 2 h daily for up to 60 d. All rats were intraperitoneally immunized on d 31, 44, and 58 of exposure. The experimental results showed that the expression levels of c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα in the thymus were not significantly changed at different magnetic flux densities. The expression levels of RORα and c-Maf were significantly downregulated at the densities of 1 and 100 µT, while the expression of STAT6 was only significantly decreased at the density of 100 µT. In conclusion, low magnetic flux densities of ELF-EMFs may reduce the expression levels of c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα genes in the spleen. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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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 typeanimal

Effect directionmixed

PopulationEighty adult male rats

Sample size80

ExposureELF · 0.05 MHz · 2 h daily for up to 60 d

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Gene expression of c-Maf in spleen and thymus
Gene expression of STAT6 in spleen and thymus
Gene expression of RORα in spleen and thymus

Limitations

Only adult male rats studied
Outcomes limited to gene expression in spleen and thymus
No details provided in abstract on randomization/blinding or exposure characterization beyond frequency/flux density/duration

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "animal",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "ELF",
    "source": null,
    "frequency_mhz": 0.05,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "2 h daily for up to 60 d"
  },
  "population": "Eighty adult male rats",
  "sample_size": 80,
  "outcomes": [
    "Gene expression of c-Maf in spleen and thymus",
    "Gene expression of STAT6 in spleen and thymus",
    "Gene expression of RORα in spleen and thymus"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In thymus, expression levels of c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα were not significantly changed across magnetic flux densities. In spleen, RORα and c-Maf were significantly downregulated at 1 and 100 µT, and STAT6 was significantly decreased at 100 µT.",
  "effect_direction": "mixed",
  "limitations": [
    "Only adult male rats studied",
    "Outcomes limited to gene expression in spleen and thymus",
    "No details provided in abstract on randomization/blinding or exposure characterization beyond frequency/flux density/duration"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "ELF-EMF",
    "extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields",
    "50 Hz",
    "magnetic flux density",
    "microtesla",
    "rat",
    "spleen",
    "thymus",
    "c-Maf",
    "STAT6",
    "RORα",
    "gene expression",
    "immunization"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "occupational-exposure",
      "weight": 0.2,
      "reason": "ELF magnetic-field exposure at 50 Hz and specified flux densities may be relevant to occupational ELF contexts, though this is an animal study."
    }
  ]
}

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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: 10.1080/15368378.2019.1608832
PubMed: Not supplied

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