Over the past five months, during and after the maximum spread of Covid-19, there has been much discussion about the use of oxygen ozone therapy as a cure to combat coronavirus and as a sanitizer to prevent its spread.
During this in-depth analyzes and therapeutic practices, the ability of ozone to eradicate viruses and strengthen the action of the immune system was also studied and discussed.
In this regard, research conducted by the Scripps Research Institute, published by "Science" and by the National Academy of Sciences of United States of America, verifies that ozone is a substance generated by the immune system, and Ozone has has become very topical.
To better understand the meaning and content of the research in question, "Orbisphera" interviewed Prof. Barbara Tavazzi, Associate Professor of Biochemistry Department of Basic Biotechnological Sciences, Intensive and Perioperative Clinics of the Catholic University of Rome.
In 2002, researchers from the authoritative Scripps Research Institute made an unexpected discovery that surprised the researchers themselves. And that is that the immune system produces ozone, and therefore manages to destroy bacteria, viruses and fungi. Can you explain exactly how this endogenous ozone production process takes place?
The study, carried out by the Scripps Research Institute team, focuses on the bactericidal action of specific antibodies to E. coli through the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, hydrogen peroxide).
The peculiarity of this experimental research was that of having had surprising and unexpected results, since for the first time it was seen that the antibodies seem to produce ozone, or at least a molecule that has the same so-called "chemical signature".
It must be taken into account that all antibodies have the ability to produce hydrogen peroxide, one of the radical species of oxygen (ROS), but only if they have a molecule known as "singlet oxygen" (1O2) available as a substrate, another species of highly reactive oxygen which spontaneously forms during normal and physiological metabolic processes.
The singlet oxygen substrate would be supplied to the antibodies by immune and phagocytic cells, such as neutrophils; hypothesis that considers the mechanism of the immune response, in which neutrophils and other immune cells are recruited at the site of an infection and / or inflammation.
At this point, neutrophils are able to engulf and destroy pathogens, targeting them with "singlet oxygen" and other highly oxidative molecules, such as hydrogen peroxide. Their action is enhanced by that of antibodies that use singlet oxygen by reducing it and combining it with water to produce further hydrogen peroxide but also ozone, as a secondary reaction product.
In fact, it has been hypothesized that the antibodies carry out a series of chemical reactions that generate an intermediate species known as hydrogen trioxide (H2O3), which corresponds to a reduced form of ozone, by virtue of the presence of two hydrogen atoms.
After the H2O3 formation reaction, starting from a water molecule (H2O) plus 1O2, there is its degradation into H2O2 and O3: this reaction which seems to take place in a hydrophobic site of the antibody molecule, where the trioxide would be protected from hydrolysis, thus promoting its conversion into peroxide and ozone.
It has been highlighted that also other non-antibody proteins can be produced, even in much smaller quantities, H2O3 and O3, and it is thought that this may be linked to the presence of four specific amino acids: histidine, tryptophan, or methionine. These molecules are able to catalyze the production of an oxidant with the chemical signature of ozone, also starting from the singlet oxygen by oxidation of the water, and with a concentration comparable to that produced by the antibodies.
How does ozone attack and deactivate pathogens?
Ozone, an allotropic and dipolar form of oxygen, is characterized by a solubility in water greater than that of oxygen, and has a high oxidizing power.
Furthermore, it is able to easily oxidize the groups –SH (thiol), −NH2 (amine), −OH (hydroxyl) and −CHO (aldehyde) of organic compounds; as a consequence many cellular biomolecules often characterized by the presence of these specific groups can become its target.
All these characteristics make it active against pathogens; in particular, it has high reactivity towards organic compounds and biomolecules containing double or triple bonds, especially fatty acids, adding the 3 oxygen atoms to these unsaturated bonds with the formation of ozonides.
The oxidative attack on the double bonds of the unsaturated hydrocarbon tails of the membrane lipids is proportional to the increase in the number of double bonds present in the molecule, and the subsequent peroxidation reaction leads to the breaking of the final part of the apolar tails with the formation of secondary products , such as aldehydes and ketones recognized as toxic substances.
But this alteration of the membrane structure also causes areas of "weakness" which make the structure of the double layer unstable and non-functional, with consequent triggering of the cell death process.
Finally, it must be remembered that ozone also causes the production of cytokines, including the tumor necrosis factor and interleukin IL-8, thus allowing an amplification of the inflammatory cascade and the triggering of proapoptotic mechanisms.
In terms of understanding how our immune system works, what are the implications of this discovery?
This oxidant, produced by antibodies and with the chemical signature of ozone, has been used in in vitro experiments to demonstrate its significant bactericidal activity. The results obtained suggest that this particular oxidizing agent from neutrophils could enhance the host's defense system, when the latter comes into contact with a high bacterial load or with various infectious agents.
More and more doctors and hospitals are using ozone therapy to treat various diseases. In view of this discovery, how do you evaluate ozone therapy?
From a biochemical point of view, the use of ozone certainly has a very valid response. I believe, however, that we should never forget the chemical nature of this molecule and its possible danger, which must always lead, whenever the patient needs further metabolic / biochemical help, to a treatment with the right concentrations and with the due Preparation.
Data were collected and published on Covid-19 patients treated with oxygen ozone. What is your opinion on this?
During the pandemic period, a series of hospitals with the SIOOT protocol (Scientific Society of Ozone Ozone Therapy) used oxygen ozone to practice an experimental treatment on patients who had pneumonia and respiratory difficulties due to coronavirus; the results obtained were undoubtedly good allowing not to resort to intensive care for all patients treated. Many of the ICU patients have improved and then recovered thanks to the use of oxygen ozone. Many studies on ozone therapy and Covid are currently underway in many hospital facilities, national and non-national.
Certainly, the treatment against Covid-19 with auto-hemotransfusion of ozonated blood, in association with antiviral drugs, makes rational sense by virtue of its demonstrated anti-inflammatory effect based on the release of cytokines with immunostimulating or immunosuppressive activities.
Mine is a biochemical opinion, not a clinical one, but I believe that these studies will certainly bring valid results, above all to clarify still uncertain points on ozone treatment, such as clarifying the suitable time for starting therapy and what are the concentrations best suited to the various disease states.
Interview by Antonio Gaspari
Director of Orbisphera
www.orbisphera.org