Antioxidant enzymes response induced by static magnetic field in pregnant rats

Some recent epidemiologic studies have suggested that static magnetic fields (MF) affect human health and, in particular, that the incidence of certain types of cancer, depression, and miscarriage might increase among individuals living or working in environments exposed to such fields. However, despite numerous studies concerning MF, the mechanism of its adverse effect still remains unknown. So, our work hypothesis was that abortion effects induced by MF exposure could be due to an over production of reactive oxygen species produced by pregnant rats. The aim of our study was to examine if MF was able to induce an oxidative stress in pregnant-rats. Pregnant female Wistar rats were exposed to MF (128 mT/1h/day) on day 6 to 19 of gestation. Animals were sacrificed three days after delivery and plasma was collected to determine malondialdehyde (MDA), an indirect oxidative stress marker, glutathion peroxidase activity (GPX), an antioxydant enzyme, and the total antioxidant status (TAS). MF exposure had no effects on MDA level (2.97 ± 0.50 μmol/l vs 2.62 ±0.19 μmol/l, p>0.05) and plasma GPX activity (6936.00 ±109.59 U/l vs 6258.00 ±111.12 U/l, p>0.05). Interestingly, MF exposure induced elevation in the total antioxidant status values (0.716 ±0.018 mmol/l vs 0.646 ±0.023 mmol/l, p<0.05). The results indicated that sub-acute exposures to magnetic field during rat pregnancy have no effects on lipid peroxidation, probably related to the protection role of antioxidant enzymes