ID Number		1355
Study Type		Human / Provocation
Model		849 and 1763 MHz mobile phone exposure to volunteers and analysis of immune cells and cytokine levels
Details		Peripheral blood was isolated from volunteers (n = 60) both before and after mobile phone use for 30 minutes and compared for differences in cellular immunity indicators (i.e. CD4+CD45RA+ naive cells, CD4+CD45RO+ memory cells, CD4+ helper cells, CD8+ cytotoxic cells, CD19+ B lymphocytes, CD3-CD16+CD56+natural killer cells, total (CD3+) T cells) using flow cytometry. In addition, cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6) were determined from peripheral blood cells cultured for 48 hours using ELISA. A subsequent study using 32 female volunteers using a similar study design to look at immune and cytokine endpoints was also performed. The authors preliminarily report that mobile phone exposure correlated with a significant increase in CD4+CD45RO+ memory cells in females (p<0.05) and CD4+ helper cells in males and females (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively). In contrast, mobile phone exposure correlated with a decrease in CD3- CD16+ CD56+ natural killer cells in males and females (p<0.01), CD19+ B lymphocytes in females (p<0.01), and total lymphocytes in males (p<0.05). Decreases in CD8+ cytotoxic cells were significantly associated with smoking (p<0.01), drinking (p<0.01), and daily use of mobile phones (p<0.01). Mobile phone exposure was also reported to decrease IL-1 beta and IL-6 in lymphocytes isolated from both males and females (p<0.01). Interleukin-6 concentration was significantly associated with dizziness (r=0.658, p<0.01) and discomfort (r=-0.533, p<0.05) after wireless phone use. Interleukin-1 concentration was associated with average amount of drinking (r=0.594, p<0.01) and eye itching and tear dripping (r=0.477, p<0.01). Other correlations between immune cell levels and subjective disorder complaints were also reported.
Findings		Effects
Status		Ongoing
Start Date
End Date
Principal Investigator		College of Medicine, Korea University - shine@korea.ac.kr
Funding Agency		EMF Project, Korea
Country		KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
References
Comments		Exposure in these studies is very questionable; apparently mobile phone exposure in the laboratory was performed simply by letting the volunteers use a mobile phone hooked to the network with unknown power control level and unknown DTx activity. Further, the type of mobile phone also does not appear to have been consistent (different handsets used by different volunteers in the various laboratory studies) and SAR between different handsets can vary significantly.