Tehran Times - A type of bacteria called Halophilic archaebacteria (Haloarchaea) can reduce the formation of cancer cells in prostate cancer, Iranian researchers speculate.

Halophilic archaebacteria are a class of the Euryarchaeota found in water saturated or nearly saturated with salt. They are now mostly recognized as archaea that are single-celled microorganisms.

The research was published in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research.

The study was carried out by Atefeh Safarpour, Marzieh Ebrahimi, Shahzadeh Fazeli and Mohammad Ali Amoozegar from Royan Research institute, Iranian Biological Resource Center and Tehran University of Medical science.

According to the research, Supernatant Metabolites derived from Halophilic archaebacteria can have cytotoxic effects on cancer cells.

The study investigated the potential anticancer effects of supernatant metabolites on five cancer cell lines including breast, lung, prostate, and also human fibroblast cells.

The anti-tumor effect of the selected supernatant was assessed both in-vitro and in-vivo.

The study concluded that among all strains, supernatant metabolites from Halobacterium salinarum IBRC M10715 had the most potent cytotoxic effect on prostate cancer cell lines without any effects on normal cells.