Ultrasonic low-energy treatment: a novel approach to induce apoptosis in human leukemic cells.

Objective: We evaluated the cytotoxic effect of ultrasonic irradiation at low energy on the viability of normal and leukemic cells and the potential mechanisms of action inducing this cytotoxicity.

Materials And Methods: Human leukemia cell lines (K562, HL-60, KG1a, and Nalm-6), primary leukemic cells, and normal mononuclear cells are treated by ultrasound at a frequency of 1.8 MHz during various exposure times (acoustical power of 7 mW/mL) and immediately tested for cell viability by the trypan blue exclusion assay.