Fluorescence depolarization studies of the phase transition in multilamellar phospholipid vesicles exposed to 1.0-GHz microwave radiation.

The phase transition in multilamellar dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) vesicles was studied during exposure to continuous wave 1.0-GHz microwave radiation. Fluorescence depolarization measurements using a lipid-seeking molecular probe, diphenylhexatriene (DPH), were performed as a function of temperature. Semilog plots of microviscosity versus temperature illustrate the phase transition which shows a 5 degree C shift when the vesicles are treated with chloroform as a positive control. No shift of the phase transition was found during exposure to microwave radiation at specific absorption rates between 1 and 30 W/kg. Samples were exposed in a rectangular transmission line (TEM cell), and specific absorption rates were calculated from electrical measurements of incident, reflected, and transmitted power. Samples were exposed to increasing intensities of radiation, while the temperature was maintained at either 23.5 or 25.5 degree C; these temperatures represented the two ends of the phase transition region for these vesicles. No statistically significant difference was found between exposed and control samples. These results are in contrast to those of others using laser Raman spectroscopy to measure the phase transition in similar multilamellar vesicles exposed to microwave radiation.