INTERACTIONS OF ELF MAGNETIC-FIELDS WITH MOUSE SKELETAL-MUSCLE

The second generation of female OF1 mice exposed chronically to a magn etic field of 50 Hz and 15 mu T (rms) was studied to find out the poss ible alterations in the skeletal muscle caused by this exposure. Anima ls were sacrificed at the age of 14 weeks, and their skeletal muscle s tudied by spectrophotometric and histopathological techniques. Calcium concentration was found to be significantly decreased in the experime ntal animals, while H2O content, Na, K, Fe, Ni, Mg, and Zn concentrati ons were not significantly different from those of control animals. Hi stologically, we found variation in fiber size, rounded and widely sep arated fibers, centrally located nuclei, and intermyofibrillar lipids. We could not find necrosis, inflammatory infiltrate, or loss of eithe r the filaments or the cross-striation.