No effect of 50 Hz magnetic field observed in a pilot study on pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures and mortality in mice

This study was planned so as to evaluate whether magnetic field exposure ha s any significant effect on the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizures. M ice were exposed to 50 Hz, 2 G (0.2 mT) magnetic field in glass cages for 1 h. Sham exposure was produced by turning off the current while the animals were in the same exposure volume. Then, PTZ was administered intraperitone ally (i.p.) at a dose of 60 mg/kg and the animals were observed for 30 min. Subsequently, the latency to seizure onset, total seizure duration, the nu mber of seizure episodes and mortality were recorded for each subject. Ther e was no evidence for a significant effect of the 50 Hz magnetic field on t he mean number of PTZ induced seizures, seizure latency, total seizure dura tion and mortality (P > 0.05). As a conclusion the present study failed to provide any further support for a therapeutic potential of magnetic field. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.