Ater S Chater, Abdelmelek H, Couton D, Joulin V, Sakly M, Ben Rhouma K.
Sub-acute exposure to magnetic field induced apoptosis in Thymus female Rats.
Pak J Med Sci Jan ;21(3):292-7.

Objective: Apoptosis induced by magnetic field in female rats was investigated by using the Tdt-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay in thymus, liver and kidney. Design: Female`s rats were exposure to 128 mT 1hour/day for 10 consecutive days. Small pieces of thymus, liver and kidney were fixed overnight at room temperature by direct immersion in 4% paraformaldehyde in 0.1M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. The samples were dehydrated with ethanol and toluene and embedded in paraffin wax. Serial sections (5 µm thick) were mounted on gelatin-coated glass slides and stained with hematoxylin and eosin or treated with TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin Nick and Labeling) method. Setting: Female Wistar rats were housed in a cage, with free access to food and water (Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Tunisia). Rats were cared for under the Tunisian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific purpose and the Experimental Protocols were approved by the Ethics Committee. Subjects: Treated and control groups (n=12) weighing 100-150g at the time of experiments were housed in the same condition three weeks before the beginning of the experiments. Main outcome measures: MF-induced apoptosis in thymus was demonstrated by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP-Biotin Nick End Labeling (TUNEL) assay. Results: Following sub-acute exposure to MF, morphological examinations revealed numerous apoptotic cells in thymus characterized by nuclear fragmentation and condensation (figure 2a). Interestingly, no labeling was found in control thymus. The density of the apoptotic cells was significant in cortical zone compared to control (2.95±0.34 % vs 0.74±0.10 %, p<0.05), than in the medullar zone (2.105±0.356% vs 0.634±0.038%, p<0.05) (figure 2a, b). By contrast, as shown in figures (3c, d), no labeling was found in liver and kidney following MF exposure (figure 4e, f). Conclusions: Thus, it may be concluded that static magnetic field induced apoptosis in thymic cell death but not in the liver and kidney.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com