title: The effect of extremely low-frequency magnetic field (50-60 Hz) exposure on spontaneous apoptosis: The results of a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This paper is a meta-analysis of the published data from in vitro studies to evaluate whether spontaneous apoptosis might be influenced by extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MFs).
  
  
  METHODS
  A comprehensive scientific literature search in electronic databases was conducted and studies covering the period 2000-2010 were selected. Then, published studies involving the desired topic were retrieved. The inclusion criteria were percentage of apoptosis in the cells exposed to 50-60 Hz ELF-MFs. The statistical analysis was performed by comprehensive meta-analysis version 2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The summary measure of association (95% confidence interval) for all 18 effect estimated from 8 studies was 1.18 (1.15, 1.20). Heterogeneity among studies was found. There was no evidence of publication bias for the association between exposure to MF and apoptosis risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our meta-analysis provided conclusive data that ELF-MFs can increase apoptosis in cancer and normal cells. Furthermore, there is a possibly individual intensity and time range with maximum created effect according to window effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, School of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahsa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mansourian
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Marateb
authors.affiliation: Applied Physiology Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Golnaz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vaseghi
keywords: Apoptosis; extremely low-frequency magnetic field exposure; meta-analysis