Friday, July 19, 2013

Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects


Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects


    Martin Pall writes:


    One of the great puzzles about the action of electromagnetic fields is
    how can they influence the biology of our bodies? The reason that this
    is such a great puzzle is that these fields are comprised of low energy
    photons, with energies too low to influence the chemistry of our
    bodies. So how can they possibly influence our biology? Many have
    argued that the only thing that they can possibly do is to heat things,
    and yet it is very clear that levels of exposure that produce only the
    slightest heating have been repeatedly shown to produce substantial
    biological effects. Now this puzzle has been solved in a paper with the
    title of this email, published on line in the Journal of Cellular and
    Molecular Medicine, freely available on the publisher's web site:

    *http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcmm.12088/pdf*

    That paper reviews 24 different studies in which EMF exposures produce
    biological effects that can be blocked by using calcium channel
    blockers, drugs that block the action of voltage-gated calcium channels
    (VGCCs). Most of these drug studies implicated L-type VGGCs, showing
    blockage by channel blockers specific for these L-type VGCCs; however
    three other classes of the voltage gated calcium channels were also
    implicated in some of these studies. What these and other studies show,
    is that EMF exposures act by partially depolarizing the electrical
    charge across the plasma membrane of cells, activating the VGCCs and it
    is the increased intracellular calcium levels that are responsible for
    the reaction to EMF exposure. These 24 studies implicate the VGCCs in
    responses to a variety of EMFs, including extremely low frequency EMFs
    such as 50 and 60 cycle fields produced by our alternating currents in
    our wiring, various microwave/radiofrequency EMFs and nanosecond
    electrical pulses. Static electrical fields also act via VGCCs, not
    surprisingly because they also influence the electrical charge across
    plasma membranes.

    Perhaps more surprisingly, static magnetic fields also act via VGCCs.
    This is a bit surprising because static magnetic fields do not produce
    electrical changes in static objects. However as pointed out in the
    paper, living cells in the body are rarely static, often moving rapidly
    in such phenomena as cellular ruffling.

    Having resolved this long-standing puzzle, the paper goes on to consider
    how VGCC activation can produce two well-documented responses to EMF
    exposure: stimulating of bone growth and the production of single
    stranded DNA breaks in EMF-exposed cells. EMF exposures have repeatedly
    been shown to produce increases in nitric oxide levels, in some cases
    almost instantaneously. These nitric oxide increases are produced
    through calcium stimulation of the action of the two nitric oxide
    synthases in the cell, iNOS and eNOS, which are both calcium-dependent
    enzymes. Nitric oxide in the cell, acts to produce most physiological
    effects, by stimulating the production of cycle GMP which stimulates, in
    turn the G-kinase (this is known as the NO/sGC/cGMP/G-kinase pathway).
    Most pathophysiological responses to nitric oxide to through another
    pathway, where nitric oxide acts as a precursor of peroxynitrite, a
    potent oxidant and reactive free radical precursor. The paper suggests
    that the EMF stimulation of bone growth, a very promising therapeutic
    response, goes through the first pathway. It also suggests that
    induction of single strand breaks in cellular DNA goes through the
    second pathway. It is possible that possible beneficial effects of
    EMFs go through the first pathway and adverse, pathophysiological
    effects go through the second pathway. Clearly we will need a lot of
    study to test mechanisms of EMF action.

    This paper may be viewed in a practical setting as being very important
    in two ways:

    1. There have been many claims that biological effects of EMF exposures
    cannot possibly exist because no plausible mechanism of action of such
    exposures could produce such effects. Clearly these claims are now defunct.

    2. In studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms of action of EMF
    exposures we now know where to look. Such studies need to look at roles
    of VGCCs, intracellular calcium, nitric oxide and possibly cycle GMP or
    peroxynitrite. It can be argued, therefore, that this paper is very
    much a game changer, changing a situation where there has been
    substantial confusion, into one where, specific, targeted questions can
    be asked and answered experimentally.

    Finally, this paper says nothing at all about EMF hypersensitivity
    (often abbreviated EHS), a condition where previous EMF exposure appears
    to induce high level sensitivity to some types of EMFs. EHS is similar
    to multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), where previous chemical
    exposures produce high level chemical sensitivity. Chemicals act in MCS
    by indirectly activating the NMDA receptors and NMDA receptors have many
    similarities in their properties to those of the L-type VGCCs. You
    should expect, therefore, a future paper on a detailed proposed
    mechanism for EHS, with both many similarities and some apparent
    mechanism of MCS as well as some differences.

    You may forward this message as you wish.


    Martin Pall [martin_pall@wsu.edu]

  • Martin L. Pall*
  • Article first published online: 26 JUN 2013

Abstract

The direct targets of extremely low and microwave frequency range electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in producing non-thermal effects have not been clearly established. However, studies in the literature, reviewed here, provide substantial support for such direct targets. Twenty-three studies have shown that voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) produce these and other EMF effects, such that the L-type or other VGCC blockers block or greatly lower diverse EMF effects. Furthermore, the voltage-gated properties of these channels may provide biophysically plausible mechanisms for EMF biological effects. Downstream responses of such EMF exposures may be mediated throughCa2+/calmodulin stimulation of nitric oxide synthesis. Potentially, physiological/therapeutic responses may be largely as a result of nitric oxide-cGMP-protein kinase G pathway stimulation. A well-studied example of such an apparent therapeutic response, EMF stimulation of bone growth, appears to work along this pathway. However, pathophysiological responses to EMFs may be as a result of nitric oxide-peroxynitrite-oxidative stress pathway of action. A single such well-documented example, EMF induction of DNA single-strand breaks in cells, as measured by alkaline comet assays, is reviewed here. Such single-strand breaks are known to be produced through the action of this pathway. Data on the mechanism of EMF induction of such breaks are limited; what data are available support this proposed mechanism. Other Ca2+-mediated regulatory changes, independent of nitric oxide, may also have roles. This article reviews, then, a substantially supported set of targets, VGCCs, whose stimulation produces non-thermal EMF responses by humans/higher animals with downstream effects involving Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent nitric oxide increases, which may explain therapeutic and pathophysiological effects.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcmm.12088/abstract
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/jcmm.12088/asset/jcmm12088.pdf;jsessionid=DCFC011F696D61786300CCDF1F2760EB.d03t04?v=1&t=hjc9jzy2&s=137074971852ed1076f978d17fcbab48b2f04871

1 comment:

  1. Great blog post. I have been digging around this area for a while now. I got turned onto it after hearing an interview by the late Bob Beck, the Physicist and medical researcher.

    He cited the work of Robert O Becker and Andy Basset who back in the 1980's found that selected EM frequencies can regenerate bones, and regrow limbs on mammals.

    O Becker got sidelined when his work suggested the power lines were causing cancer. His book "The Body Electric" is still in print and may still be available on-line.

    Barry Trower is a retired British Engineer who is an insider on the Microwave cover-up. Apparently the weapon potential of microwaves was discovered early and a blanket was thrown over the safety research on the basis of security.

    A great interview on this topic, and its implications to health is given below.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLWRdkxKXiw&list=PLxInmVgEot6lB4y9zHTJBJsrcym3xkr-G&index=1

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