The effect of extremely low frequency magnetic field on heart tissue iron density

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this histological study was to investigate the effects of extremely low frequency, low intensity magnetic field on the heart muscle iron density. Materials and methods: In this study, 45 male Spraque Dawley rats were introduced and were divided into three groups as sham, control and experiment group. The experimental group was exposed to a 0.25 mT to Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Field (ELF-MF) for 14 days, 3h a day in metacrylate boxes. The sham group was treated like the experimental group, except for ELF-MF exposure. For control, nothing applied to rats in this group and they completed their life cycle in the cage during the study period. After exposure period, the rats were sacrificed under ketalar an-esthesia (50 mg / kg, intramuscularly). Heart tissues were immediately fixed in 10% neutral formaldehyde and embed-ded in paraffin blocks. Histological sections from cardiac tissue stained by hematoxylin-eosin, Perls' Prussian blue for iron pigments. Histological slides were photographed under a Nikon DS-2MV photomicroscope. Results: The architecture and histology of the control, sham and experimental group were observed as normal. No differences were observed between the control, sham and experimental rat groups in the iron stain of heart tissues. Conclusion: As a result of our study, we did not observe differences between the control and ELF-MF (experimental) group. In this investigation we demonstrated that the exposure of cardiac tissue of rats to the ELF-MF did not change in the iron stain study.