Studies describing the influence of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on bone marrow cells (BMC) often lack functional data. We examined the effects of in vivo exposure to a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) modulated 900MHz RF fields on BMC using two transplantation models. X-irradiated syngeneic mice were injected with BMC from either RF-field-exposed, sham-exposed or cage control mice. Twelve weeks after transplantation, no differences in thymocyte number, frequency of subpopulations and cell proliferation were found in mice receiving BMC from either group. Also, in the spleen cell number, percentages of B/T cells, B/T-cell proliferation, and interferon γ (IFN-γ) production were similar in all groups. In parallel, a mixture of BMC from congenic sham- and RF-exposed mice were co-transplanted into lymphopenic Rag2 deficient mice. BMC from RF-exposed and sham-exposed mice displayed no advantage or disadvantage when competing for the replenishment of lymphatic organs with mature lymphocytes in Rag2 deficient mice. This model revealed that BMC from sham-exposed and RF-exposed mice were less efficient than BMC from cage control mice in repopulating the thymus, an effect likely due to restraint stress. In conclusion, our results showed no effects of in vivo exposure to GSM-modulated RF-fields on the ability of bone marrow (BM) precursors to long-term reconstitute peripheral T and B cell compartments. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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