Effects of differently polarized microwave radiation on the microscopic structure of the nuclei in human fibroblasts

To investigate the influence of microwave radiation on the human fibroblast nuclei, the effects of three variants of electromagnetic wave polarization, linear and left-handed and right-handed elliptically polarized, were examined. Experimental conditions were: frequency (f) 36.65 GHz, power density (P) at the surface of exposed object 1, 10, 30, and 100 mu W/cm(2), exposure time 10 s. Human fibroblasts growing in a monolayer on a cover slide were exposed to microwave electromagnetic radiation. The layer of medium that covered cells during microwave exposure was about 1 mm thick. Cells were stained immediately after irradiation by 2% (w/v) orcein solution in 45% (w/v) acetic acid. Experiments were made at room temperature (25 A degrees C), and control cell samples were processed in the same conditions. We assessed heterochromatin granule quantity (HGQ) at 600x magnification. Microwave irradiation at the intensity of 1 mu W/cm(2) produced no effect, and irradiation at the intensities of 10 and 100 mu W/cm(2) induced an increase in HGQ. More intense irradiation induced more chromatin condensation. The right-handed elliptically polarized radiation revealed more biological activity than the left-handed polarized one.