Decreased Production of the Superoxide Anion Radical in Neutrophils Exposed to a Near-Null Magnetic Field

Abstract

This paper reports that pre-incubation of a neutrophil suspension in the presence of a near-null magnetic field produced using a system of magnetic shields (a residual constant magnetic field not greater than 20 nT) results in a considerable decrease in the intensity of neutrophil lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence. The addition of the NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenyliodonium to the incubation medium reduced the chemiluminescence intensity in both the experimental and the control samples (geomagnetic field). It should be noted that the differences observed between the groups, which were caused by the exposure to a near-null magnetic field, are almost the same both at lower (2.5, 5, and 10 μM) and higher (50 and 100 μM) diphenyliodonium concentrations. In contrast, the addition of 2,4-dinitrophenol, an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria, in concentrations starting from 5 μM and up to 200 μM almost completely eliminated the difference between the control and experimental samples, which was observed at low inhibitor concentrations, or in its absence.