Electrolyzed water produced using carbon electrodes promotes the proliferation of normal cells while inhibiting cancer cells.

We previously developed electrolyzed water (EW) using carbon electrodes and estimated its ability to inhibit the proliferation of human cervical carcinoma HeLa cells. In this study, we found that EW-containing media could not only inhibit HeLa cell proliferation, but were also capable of promoting the proliferation of normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF). In addition, the developed EW could reduce cytochrome c, as demonstrated by the cytochrome c reduction assay. Interestingly, EW with a greater pH, which was unable to inhibit HeLa cell proliferation, completely lost the ability to reduce cytochrome c. Our results indicate that EW has opposite effects on cancer and normal cell proliferation and has the ability to reduce cytochrome c. Based on our findings, we suggest the possibility that the reducing capacity of our developed EW may be involved in the significant inhibition of HeLa cell proliferation.