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Effect of 50-Hz Magnetic Fields on Serum IL-1β and IL-23 and Expression of BLIMP-1, XBP-1, and IRF-4

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Abstract

Investigations demonstrated that magnetic fields (MFs) change cytokine production and expression of some immune system genes. This alteration can affect the immune system function and may lead to some diseases. Therefore, this study investigated two important inflammatory cytokines, i.e., IL-1β and IL-23 at two phases of pre- and post-immunization of the immune system. In addition, the expressions of three important genes in the humoral immunity, i.e., B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein-1 (BLIMP-1), X-box-binding protein-1 (XBP-1), and interferon regulatory factor-4 (IRF-4) were evaluated at post-immunization phase. Eighty adult male rats were divided into four experimental groups and a control. The experimental groups were exposed to 50 -Hz MFs with magnetic flux densities of 1, 100, 500, and 2000 μT, 2 h/day for 2 months. The animals were injected by human serum albumin (100 μg/rat) on days 31, 44, and 58 of exposure. The cytokine levels in serum were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the expression of genes was evaluated with reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Serum IL-1β was decreased at pre-immunization phase after exposure to 1 and 100 μT of 50-Hz MFs. In contrast, serum IL-23 was increased at post-immunization phase in 100 μT group. No change was observed in serum IL-1β and IL-23 in each group at pre-immunization phase compared with post-immunization. Furthermore, exposure to 100 μT downregulated expression of BLIMP-1, XBP-1, and IRF-4. In conclusion, exposure to 50-Hz MFs may decrease inflammation at short time and increase it at longer time exposures. In addition, 50-Hz MF exposure may decrease the humoral immune responses. It seems that 50-Hz MFs cause more alteration in immune system function at lower densities (100 μT).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratefulness to the staff of the Immunology Department and Research Center for Molecular Medicine (Hamadan Iran) for their valuable assistance.

Funding

The study was funded by Vice-chancellor for Research and Technology, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences (No. 9510146109), Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, 6517838736, Iran

    Setare Molaei, Mahdi Alahgholi-Hajibehzad, Mohammad Gholamian-Hamadan, Zohre Zaerieghane & Alireza Zamani

  2. Molecular Immunology Research Group, Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

    Mahdi Alahgholi-Hajibehzad & Alireza Zamani

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  1. Setare Molaei
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Correspondence to Alireza Zamani.

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All the protocols of the study were approved by Committee of Ethics for Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran (Code: IR.UMSHA.REC.1396.96)

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Molaei, S., Alahgholi-Hajibehzad, M., Gholamian-Hamadan, M. et al. Effect of 50-Hz Magnetic Fields on Serum IL-1β and IL-23 and Expression of BLIMP-1, XBP-1, and IRF-4. Inflammation 42, 1800–1807 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-019-01042-w

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