Alteration of immune cell response in low frequency magnetic fields

By exposing four types of human immune cells to a well-defined and controlled electromagnetic exposure system, the specific effects of this exposure on the functioning of the human immune cells were examined in vitro. B-cells, T-cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells have been the focus of the studies in view of the role each plays in the immune system along the path to negating tumor cell growth. The results obtained indicated an acceleration in B and T cell proliferation upon magnetic-field (MF) application, in the presence of rIL-2, indicating an increase of 2-4 fold over sham controls. This increase was observed at cell densities of 0.5 and 1.0*10⁵ cells/well. NK activity failed to elicit any variation from normal cytotoxic function upon MF exposure, while LAK activity was observed to be suppressed 20-30%. Except for NK activity, these results support the conclusion that alterations are occurring in the functional capacities of several human immune cell subsets in response to low-frequency MF exposure.