**RETRACTION NOTICE TO**: EFFECT OF RADIOFREQUENCY ON SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTIONING

ANTONIETTA MESSINA^1,§,*, GIANLUCA RUSSO^2,§, VINCENZO MONDA¹, ANNA VALENZANO³, INES VILLANO¹, ANTONIO ASCIONE⁴, FIORENZO MOSCATELLI³, ROMOALDO CRESCENZO⁵, ANNA ROSA CATIZZONE⁵, ANNALISA PANICO⁵, ELISABETTA FULGIONE⁵, LAURA PIOMBINO⁵, DARIO DORATO⁵, GINA CAVALIERE⁶, GIOVANNA TRINCHESE⁶, GIUSEPPE CIBELLI3, EMANUELE BARTOLETTI^C, GIOVANNI MESSINA³

¹Department of Experimental Medicine, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Caserta, Italy - ²Italian Society of non- Ablative Radiofrequency - ³Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy - ⁴Department of Motor Sciences and Wellness, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Italy - ⁵Italian Society of Aesthetic Medicine - ⁶Department of Biology, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

Radiofrequency devices for aesthetic applications such as body and face skin tightening, cellulite reduction, rhytids and body contouring treatments are becoming increasingly popular in clinics worldwide due to their demonstrated efficacy and safety combi- ned with a relative lack of complications and down-time. Heating of body tissues by radiofrequency (RF) energy is a mechanism for therapeutic. Such effects may be produced by local changes in tissue temperature (for example, thermally induced changes in regio- nal blood flow) and others may be systemic effects due to the additional thermal load on the body. An elevated core temperature increases metabolism and certain other functions such as heart rate, respiration rate, and nerve conduction velocity

The aim of this study was to determine whether healthy subjects, non-obese, undergoing treatment with radiofrequency could see changes in REE and SNA, GSR.

Twenty healthy adult female, took part in the study. The study protocol consisted of the treatment of twenty minutes of radiofre- quency in the abdominal region. Participants in the study were presented in the morning at 8 am fasting for at least 12 h, underwent measurement of REE, HRV and GSR 60 minutes prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and 120 minutes after treatment.

Radiofrequency induced significant increases of REE, sympathetic activity, and GSR. This result is also useful in the interpreta- tion of the relationship between the sympathetic nervous system and food intake in young subjects. It has demonstrated a significant influence of sympathetic activity on eating behavior, also through an increase in thermogenesis.