Morphometrical and morphological alterations of human leukocytes exposed to 1.8 GHz electromagnetic radiations: in vitro protective effects induced by polyphenols

BACKGROUND: Our recent findings have demonstrated that electromagnetic radiations (EMR) (1.8 GHz radiofrequency) are able to in vitro induce morphometrical and morphological modifications of human leukocytes from normal donors. METHODS: In view of the evidence that polyphenols exert many beneficial effects on plants, animals and humans, leukocytes from human peripheral blood were pre-treated for 1 h with two polyphenol preparations from red grape before EMR exposure (1.8 GHz). RESULTS: Our data will show that polyphenol pre-treatment reverts to normality leukocyte morphology in comparison to irradiated cells only. Conversely, leukocyte morphometry seems to be not affected by this treatment. CONCLUSION: Here, we demonstrate that polyphenols are also able to normalize leukocyte morphology per se altered before as well as after irradiation. Finally, a working hypothesis aimed at clarifying the protective mechanisms exerted by polyphenols on irradiated leukocytes will be illustrated.