title: Low-energy electromagnetic fields promote proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells.
abstract: The rationale was to investigate the effects of low-energy electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the proliferation of bovine coronary and murine aortic smooth muscle cells (SMC). EMF were applied to SMC at field frequencies of 25, 50, or 100 Hz, and exposure time was set to 5, 15, or 30 minutes. Significant increases in SMC-counts compared with sham exposed controls were found for all EMF-frequencies tested. The effect was most pronounced for 50 Hz fields with maximum increases of 1.2-fold over controls. Sequential double exposure of mouse aortic SMC to 50 Hz fields revealed significantly enhanced cell proliferation by 1.2 fold compared with single exposure (p < 0.05). Experiments performed on bovine SMC also revealed significant increases in cell proliferation. The results demonstrate that EMF are capable of significantly enhancing the proliferation of vascular SMC. These results rise the question whether EMF would qualify as supportive means to angio-/arteriogenic approaches.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Angiology, Hospital of the University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Köbbert
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berndt
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bierbaum
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sontag
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Breithardt
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Weissen-Plenz
authors.forename: Jürgen R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Sindermann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000528:radiation effects; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000528:radiation effects*