Pharmacological principles underlying oxygen-ozone therapy

The oxygen/ozone mixture (also called medicinal ozone) used in medicine is 1-40 mug/ml of oxygen, i.e, ozone concentrations are about thirty times lower than those applied in industry. Ozone affects the metabolism of oxygen enhancing the flexibility of erythrocyte membranes with a consequent improvement in blood circulation Oxidation reactions preferably occur with molecules for which ozone has an affinity. This preferential mechanism is important because it is the basis of the body's ability to protect itself from possible negative effects of ozone such as the inactivation and destruction of aminoacids and the peroxidation of molecular complexes like lipids and/or nucleic acids The result of ozone's action on coenzymes and directly on organic substances is its effect on three key metabolic lines. In glucidic metabolism ozone accelerates glycolysis. Ozone mainly intervenes in protein metabolism due to its marked affinity for sulphydryl groups (e.g. glutathione). However, aminoacids and hence protein molecules in the body are protected from inactivation by ozone by two reactions which prevent their degradation: the oxidation of glutathione followed by the oxidation of the coenzymes NADH and NADPH. In lipid metabolism, ozone reacts directly with the unsaturated fatty acids. In nn environment rich in water; this reaction leads to tire formation of peroxidases with subsequent hydrolytic fission of the lipid chains These effects on metabolism explain the action of ozone which includes: positive changes in the theology of the microcirculation and reduction mechanism of haemoglobin resulting in greater oxygen uptake by tissues; bactericidal, fungicidal and virus-inactivating effect; anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects; effect on the immune system. Ozone is only toxic when inhaled as it lends to congestion and inflammation of the airways with possible irreversible structural changes to the ciliated cells. Oxygen-ozone mixture administered by injection has no significantly toxic effects, as shown by a large clinical series.