[Nonthermal levels of electric currents applied in capacitive electric transfer therapy provokes partial cytotoxic effects in human neuroblastoma cultures]. / Niveles atérmicos de corrientes eléctricas usadas en terapia por transferencia eléctrica capacitiva inducen efectos citotóxicos parciales en cultivos de neuroblastoma humano.

The present study investigates the cellular response to weak, sine wave, 0.5-MHz electric currents. The experimental exposure to identical signals at an intensity high enough as to significantly increase the temperature in target tissues, has provided positive responses in clinical treatments of tumors with capacitive electric transfer (CET) thermal therapy. The present results show that the in vitro exposure to CET signals at athermal doses causes cytotoxic effects in human neuroblastoma cells. Such a response seems to be due to signal-induced alterations in the cell cycle. As a whole, the results suggest that the potential therapeutic effects of the CET strategy could be due to the thermal response of the tissues to the currents, added to an athermal response of the cells to the electric current itself.