Exposure to Static Magnetic Fields Affects Insulin Secretion in INS Cells

Abstract

The exposure to static magnetic fields (SMFs) has rapidly increased and is recently accompanied with the wide use of more and more electrical appliances. Although few researches have been reported on other types of magnetic fields that may have the effects on clinical therapy of diseases, it is rarely seen reports on the effects of moderate static magnetic fields on human health. In this study, in order to evaluate the influence of exposure to moderate static magnetic fields on biological systems, we cultured the INS-1 under exposure to moderate intensity of 400 mT and sham conditions for different times from 6 to 18 h, insulin secretion to medium and mRNA expression will be tested after exposure. Insulin secretion has significantly increased after exposed to SMFs with moderate intensity of 400 mT for 18 h compared with the sham condition. Furthermore, similar to the insulin secretion, insulin 1 and insulin 2 mRNA expression also increased after exposure. These results suggest that exposure to SMFs at 400 mT position for specific times might have positive stimulation in both insulin secretion and insulin mRNA expression, and these will be used hopefully in further investigations in vitro, even in the therapy clinically.