In vivo and in vitro effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (50 Hz) on mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis, Lmk 1819)

The widespread of anthropic activities and the technological development have increased in the last decades the exposure of organisms to low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-EMF), so evoking a great interest about their influence on biological and mainly immune system. In the present work, the phagocytosis of the Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lmk, 1819) hemocytes has been investigated following the exposure to ELF-EMF (50 Hz, 1 mT), both in vivo and in vitro experiments. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the intracellular Ca++ changes were considered as parameters to monitoring the effects of ELF-EMF, using yeasts as phagocytosis stimuli. In the in vitro experiment, the ROS synthesis increased compared to the control group supposing an higher lifetime for ROS with deleterious effects for cells. In the in vivo experiment, the ROS synthesis decreased compared to the control group and this result could be linked to a immunosuppressive modulation of ELF-EMF. In particular, some biological pathways available in vivo but not present in vitro could exist to counterbalance the higher lifetime of ROS, so protecting the cells from insulting events. On the contrary, the intracellular Ca++ showed any level change compared to the control group both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Depending on the kind of exposure to ELF-EMF, such results have attested the different oxidative response of the mussel hemocytes following phagocytosis stimulation, so indicating the evidence of the potential impact of ELF-EMF on the mussel immune system. Therefore, the present work has the aim to propose the hemocyte phagocytosis as biological model for investigating the ELF-EMF not only in the basal research but also for monitoring the environmental quality.[...]