Objective: The exposure of electric fields in daily life is greatly increased through the use of electronic devices, new transportation technologies and various other devices. Alternate current (AC) and direct current (DC) are the types of current flow in a circuit. However, their impacts at the cellular and tissue level, especially in bones, are not well known. Therefore, in the present study, our aim was to investigate the in vitro effects and potential differences of both 50 Hz AC and DC electric fields on osteosarcoma cell lines. We hypothesized that exposure of AC and DC electric fields increased the cell numbers in Saos-2 cell line.

Patients and Methods: The cells were exposed to 50 Hz AC electric field at different levels (0, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kV/cm) and the cell numbers were determined after 24 hours of exposure. Likewise, the impact of 50 Hz AC electric field on cells was investigated 48 h after the exposure at the same levels. Moreover, cells were also exposed to DC electric field at different levels (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2.3 kV/cm).

Results: Cell numbers in 4 kV/cm and 2 kV/cm AC electric field doses were increased after 24 h and 48 h of exposure, respectively, compared to controls. Likewise, the number of cells in 0.5 and 2.3 kV/cm exposure groups was increased 24 h after exposure to DC electric field.

Conclusions: The results show the potential adverse effects of 50 Hz AC and DC electric fields by increasing the number of cells in osteosarcoma cell lines. However, since investigations were performed on a tumoral cell line, these results cannot indicate how electric fields would impact the transformation of normal cells to malignant cells.