title: Induction of an adaptive response in human blood lymphocytes exposed to radiofrequency fields: influence of the universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) signal and the specific absorption rate.
abstract: The induction of an adaptive response (AR) was examined in human peripheral blood lymphocytes exposed to non-ionizing radiofrequency fields (RF). Cells from nine healthy human volunteers were stimulated for 24h with phytohaemagglutinin and then exposed for 20h to an adaptive dose (AD) of a 1950MHz RF UMTS (universal mobile telecommunication system) signal used for mobile communications, at different specific absorption rates (SAR) of 1.25, 0.6, 0.3, and 0.15W/kg. This was followed by treatment of the cells at 48h with a challenge dose (CD) of 100ng/ml mitomycin C (MMC). Lymphocytes were collected at the end of the 72h total culture period. The cytokinesis-block method was used to record the frequency of micronuclei (MN) as genotoxicity end-point. When lymphocytes from six donors were pre-exposed to RF at 0.3W/kg SAR and then treated with MMC, these cells showed a significant reduction in the frequency of MN, compared with the cells treated with MMC alone; this result is indicative of induction of AR. The results from our earlier study indicated that lymphocytes that were stimulated for 24h, exposed for 20h to a 900MHz RF GSM (global system for mobile communication) signal at 1.25W/kg SAR and then treated with 100ng/ml MMC, also exhibited AR. These overall data suggest that the induction of AR depends on RF frequency, type of the signal and SAR. Further characterization of RF-induced AR is in progress.
authors.affiliation: CNR-Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zeni
authors.affiliation: CNR-Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment, Napoli, Italy; Department of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sannino
authors.affiliation: CNR-Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment, Napoli, Italy; Department of Information Engineering, Second University of Naples, Aversa, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Romeo
authors.affiliation: CNR-Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment, Napoli, Italy; Department of Physics, University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Massa
authors.affiliation: CNR-Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarti
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Centre, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Abishek B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas Health Science Centre, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Prihoda
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Centre, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
authors.lastname: Vijayalaxmi
authors.affiliation: CNR-Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of Environment, Napoli, Italy. Electronic address: scarfi.mr@irea.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Maria Rosaria
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Scarfì
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000528:radiation effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000528:radiation effects*; D048629:Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D011846:Radio Waves
chemical_list: D016685:Mitomycin