A team at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman studied in the laboratory how beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), a ketone body naturally produced by the body, affects the response of ovarian cancer cells to bisphenol A (BPA), a compound used in some plastics.
BPA increased cell viability and migration. BHB alone reduced viability and, combined with BPA, lessened the BPA-linked increase in migration. The study was published in Current Issues in Molecular Biology by Hussein Sakr, Amira Al Kharusi, Fatma Mohamed Fouad and Srinivasa Rao Sirasanagandla.
The authors stress that the study used a single cell line and does not show that BHB or a ketogenic diet can prevent or treat ovarian cancer. It is a first step towards further research.
