Assessment of the Effects of Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields on Toxoplasma gondii

BACKGROUND: The effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) on Toxoplasma gondii have not been explained yet. The aim of this study was to assess the possible effects of ELF-EMF on growth, survival time and viability of Toxoplasma gondii. In addition, the life span of Toxoplasma infected animals was investigated. METHODS: Sixty adult male BALB/c mice were used for in vivo and in vivo experiments in Laboratory of Biopyhsics and Parasitology of Medical Faculty, Adnan Menderes University, Turkey, in 2010. During in vivo experiments, pulsed and continuous EMFs were applied for 5 d to the infected mice. During in vivo experiments, pulsed and continuous EMF was applied to the tachyzoites within peritoneal exudates for 8 h/d at 4 °C and the tachyzoites were then injected to mice. In both experiments, the number of T. gondii in peritoneal exudates was counted and T. gondii protein bands patterns were investigated with polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western Blotting. RESULTS: Pulsed and continuous EMF exposure reduced the number of T. gondii tachyzoites in comparison to controls. However, no statistically significant differences were observed at the patterns of protein bands among the samples. CONCLUSION: EMF exposure induces a decrease in the number of T. gondii. Further studies are required to understand the mechanism of EMF on intracellular parasites.