Life on Magnet: Long-Term Exposure of Moderate Static Magnetic Fields on the Lifespan and Healthspan of Mice

Abstract

All living organisms on the Earth live and evolve in the presence of the weak geomagnetic field, a quasi-uniform static magnetic field (SMF). In the meantime, although the effects of moderate and high SMFs have been investigated on multiple aspects of a living organism, a long-term SMF exposure of more than 1 year has never been reported. Here, we investigated the influence of a moderate SMF (70–220 mT head-to-toe) long-term continuous exposure (1.7 years) to two different SMF directions on healthy male C57BL/6 mice. We found that not only was the lifespan of the mice prolonged, but their healthspan was also improved. The elevated plus maze test and open field test show that SMFs could significantly improve the exploratory and locomotive activities of the aged mice. The Morris water maze test shows that SMFs could improve their spatial learning ability and spatial memory. Tissue examinations reveal that SMFs have an ameliorative effect on oxidative stress in the brain of aged mice, which was reinforced by the cellular assays, showing that SMFs could protect the PC12 cells from D-gal-induced senescence by increasing superoxide dismutase, catalase, and reducing the malonaldehyde levels. Therefore, our data show that the 1.7-year SMF exposure can improve both the lifespan and healthspan of naturally aged mice due to reduced oxidative stress, which indicates that SMFs have the potential to be used as an adjuvant physical therapy to reduce the ageing-induced health risks to benefit animals, and even humans.

Ultra‐high static magnetic fields cause immunosuppression through disrupting B‐cell peripheral differentiation and negatively regulating BCR signaling

“…For example, we exposed healthy mice continuously to 0.1–0.2 T SMF for 1.7 years and did not reveal harmful effects. 37 We also found that high SMFs of 9.4 T exposure for 200 h did not have observable defects in tumor‐bearing mice. 38 However, 14 h of prolonged treatment of gradient high SMFs had negative effects on type 1 and 2 diabetes mice, including spleen, hepatic, and renal tissue impairment.…”

“…Meanwhile, our group has published several articles about long‐term treatment with magnetic fields and found that SMFs do not have many safety issues for healthy mice. For example, we exposed healthy mice continuously to 0.1–0.2 T SMF for 1.7 years and did not reveal harmful effects 37 . We also found that high SMFs of 9.4 T exposure for 200 h did not have observable defects in tumor‐bearing mice 38 .…”

Magnetic Fields Affect Alcoholic Liver Disease by Liver Cell Oxidative Stress and Proliferation Regulation

“…Most studies of SMFs have reported various beneficial effects, indicating their potentials in magnetotherapy. For example, we recently found that the exactly same sets of magnetic plates in this study not only can prolong the lifespan and health span of normally aged mice [ 41 ] but also can alleviate the kidney injury induced by cisplatin [ 42 ]. The guideline provided by World Health Organization (WHO) and International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) set the safety threshold for the public exposure of SMF to 400 mT based on available research evidences [ 43 ].…”

Effects of ultra‐strong static magnetic field on the gut microbiota of humans and mice

“…Bioeffects of moderate and weak static magnetic fields: For a long time, the studies, investigating the biological effects of static magnetic fields, have usually focused on moderate and weak static magnetic fields (Driessen et al, 2020; Fan et al, 2022; Li et al, 2020; Rosen, 2003). Even though, based on these results, it cannot be clarified whether the biological effects of the static magnetic field are beneficial or harmful to human health (Driessen et al, 2020).…”