Background: As depression is one of the common diseases in the world and because of the lack of proper response via usual medications, using electromagnet fields (EMF), as an alternative treatment, has become noticeable. Thus, in the present study, the effect of EMF with low frequencies was investigated on the treatment of depression.

Materials and methods: The experimental study was carried out on 32 male mice (albino, mean weight of 30g) after their adaptation in animal house. The animals were classified into 4 groups (n=8). All 4 groups were injected with high dose of reserpine (5 mg/kg) i.p. and from those, 3 groups exposed with EMF (10, 25, and 50 HZ frequencies, respectively, with intense 250µT) for one week, 30 minutes daily. In all 3 groups, the signs of depression (sedation, righting reflexes and swimming), diarrhea, eyes hemorrhage, and feet and hands hemorrhage were observed and compared with control group (those without exposing to EMFs).

Results: Reserpine-induced depression caused sedation, righting reflex disorders, swimming difficulty, diarrhea and eye bleeding. The sedation in 10 and 25 HZ was significantly decreased. EMF in all frequencies decreased sings significantly, particularly in 25 HZ frequency. In swimming, EMF with 10 Hz was the most effective frequency.

Conclusion: The findings showed that using EMES in low frequency can reduce most signs of reserpine-induced depression.

Keywords: Electromagnet fields (EMF), Mice, Depression.