title: The effect of extremely low frequency pulsed electromagnetic field on in vitro fertilization success rate in N MRI mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) on reproduction systems have been widely debated. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether low frequency EMF could ameliorate the in vitro fertilization success rate in Naval medical research institute (NMRI) Mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this randomized comparative animal study, ten NMRI mice were randomly divided into 2 equal groups (control and experimental). 10 IU of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was injected intraperitoneally to both groups in order to stimulate ovulating, and ovums were then aspirated and kept in KSOM (modified version of sequential simplex optimization medium with a higher K(+) concentration) culture medium. Metaphase II ovums were separated, and sperms obtained by "swim out" method were added to metaphase II ovums in the culture medium. The experimental group was exposed to 1.3 millitesla pulsed electromagnetic field at 4 kilohertz frequency for 5 hours. To assess the efficacy, we considered the identification of two-pronuclear zygote (2PN) under microscope as fertilizing criterion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total number of collected ovums in the control and experimental groups was 191 and 173, respectively, from which 58 (30.05%) and 52 (30.36%) ovums were collected from metaphase II, respectively. In vitro fertilization (IVF) success rate was 77% in extremely low frequency- pulsed electromagnetic field (ELFPEMF) for exposed group (experimental), whereas the rate was 68% for control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite increased percentile of IVF success rate in exposed group, there was no statistically significant difference between 2 groups, but this hypothesis has still been stated as a question. Further studies with larger sample sizes and different EMF designs are suggested.
authors.affiliation: 1.Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Leili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hafizi
authors.affiliation: 2.Department of Medical Physics, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Ameneh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sazgarnia
authors.affiliation: 1.Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Nezhat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mousavifar
authors.affiliation: 1.Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.affiliation: 1.Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Saleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghorbani
authors.affiliation: 1.Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kazemi
authors.affiliation: 3.Department of Biomedical Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Emami Meibodi
authors.affiliation: 4.Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Golkoo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: 4.Biochemistry of Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hesam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mostafavi Toroghi
keywords: Electromagnetic Fields; In Vitro Fertilization; Mice