Static electric field exposure decreases white blood cell count in peripheral blood through activating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

• Published in: International journal of environmental health research 2024, Vol.34 (1), p.305-315
• Main Authors: Wu, Jiahong, Dong, Li, Xiang, Junli, Di, Guoqing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adrenocorticotropic hormone; Apoptosis; Cell number; Circuits; Corticosterone; Corticotropin-releasing hormone; Electric fields; Exposure; Glucocorticoid receptors; Glucocorticoids; Health risks; HPA axis; Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; Hypothalamus; immune function; Leukocyte migration; Leukocytes; Lymphocytes; Negative feedback; Neural networks; Peripheral blood; Pituitary; Serum levels; static electric field; Transmission lines; Ultra-high-voltage direct-current transmission; white blood cell
• ISSN: 0960-3123; 1369-1619
• DOI: 10.1080/09603123.2022.2148636

With the development of ultra-high-voltage (UHV) direct-current (DC) transmission, the health risk from the static electric field (SEF) generated by UHV DC transmission lines has drawn public attention. To investigate the effect of SEF exposure on white blood cell (WBC) count, mice were exposed to 56.3 kV/m SEF. Results revealed that total WBC count and lymphocyte count significantly decreased and serum levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone (CORT) significantly increased after the exposure of 7d and 14d. All indices above recovered after the exposure of 21d. Analysis showed that the exposure of 7d and 14d could activate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The increased CORT could bind to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in lymphocytes, and then promote the migration and apoptosis of lymphocytes. After the exposure of 21d, the magnitude of HPA axis activation declined through CORT-mediated negative feedback and the regulation of stress-related neural circuitry, so WBC count recovered.