Effects of long-term exposure of extremely low frequency magnetic field on oxidative/nitrosative stress in rat liver

Thirty-two adult Wistar-Albino female and male rats were used to investigate the long-term (45 days) effects of extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF; 50 Hz, 1 mT, 4 h/day) exposure on oxidative/nitrosative stress in liver tissues of rats. The rats were divided randomly into four groups: female control (FC; n=8) and MF-exposed female rats (F-MF; n=8); male control (MC; a=8) and MF-exposed male rats (M-MF; n=8). Liver tissue from each animal was harvested and utilized for malondialdehyde (MDA) and 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) detection. MDA levels were measured by MDA-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method, while the 3-NT levels were determined by the high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) system. There were no significant differences between the MDA levels of the control (FC; MC) and ME-exposed (F-ME; M-MF) rats (P>0.05). In the F-MF rats, 3-NT levels were significantly increased when compared to those of the FC rats (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between the 3-NT levels of the MC and M-MF rats. In conclusion, our study suggests that the long-term ELF-MF exposure may enhance the oxidative/nitrosative stress in liver tissue of the female rats and could have a deteriorative effect on cellular proteins rather than lipids by enhancing 3-NT formation. (author)