Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Effect of puerarin on matrix metalloproteinase-2 in human fetal scleral fibroblasts treated with low frequency electromagnetic fields med./bio.

By: Zhu H, Cai X, Fan X

Published in: J Tradit Chin Med 2013; 33 (5): 664-668

Puerarin is a compound found in plants (e. g. Puerariae lobatae) and belongs to the isoflavones. Herbs containing puerarin are used in the traditional Chinese medicine against various diseases.
Cell cultures were grown under different conditions: 1.) no treatment (control group), 2.) magnetic field exposure, 3.) magnetic field exposure + 0.1 µM puerarin, 4.) magnetic field exposure + 1 µM puerarin and 5.) magnetic field exposure + 10 µM puerarin.

Exposure	Parameters
Exposure 1: 50 Hz Exposure duration: continuous for 24 hours	magnetic flux density: 0.2 mT

Exposure source	Helmholtz coils
Setup	coils (16 cm length, 14 cm width, 8 cm hight) consisted of 168 turns of copper wire, respectively; coils were placed in cell culture incubator and connected to the power outlet one hour before the experiment to generate a stable magnetic field; temperature 37°C ± 0.2°C
Sham exposure	A sham exposure was conducted.

Measurand	Value	Type	Method	Mass	Remarks
magnetic flux density	0.2 mT	-	measured	-	-

Exposed system:

Investigated system:

Time of investigation:

The gene expression and the protein expression of the matrix metalloproteinase-2 were significantly increased in exposed cell cultures without puerarin compared to the control group. An addition of puerarin significantly decreased the gene expression and protein expression in comparison to the exposure group without puerarin. The more puerarin was added to the culture medium the more were the expression levels decreased.
The authors conclude that exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields could increase the gene expression and protein expression in human fetal scleral fibroblasts and that puerarin could attenuate these effects.

Study character:

Zhu H et al. (2016): Effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields on human fetal scleral fibroblasts
Wang J et al. (2013): Suppression of type I collagen in human scleral fibroblasts treated with extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields
Tunik S et al. (2013): Effects of pulsed and sinusoidal electromagnetic fields on MMP-2, MMP-9, collagen type IV and E-cadherin expression levels in the rat kidney: an immunohistochemical study
Patruno A et al. (2012): Activity of matrix metallo proteinases (MMPs) and the tissue inhibitor of MMP (TIMP)-1 in electromagnetic field-exposed THP-1 cells
Schauerte P et al. (2011): Sympathetic neurons express and secrete MMP-2 and MT1-MMP to control nerve sprouting via pro-NGF conversion
Zhang D et al. (2011): No effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields on expression of cell adhesion molecules (integrin, CD44) and matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 in osteosarcoma cell lines
Hu T et al. (2008): Exposure of aortic vascular smooth muscle cells to low-frequency electromagnetic field inhibits osteopontin expression and matrix metalloproteinase activity