The Biochemical and Pharmacological Properties of Ozone: The Smell of Protection in Acute and Chronic Diseases

Rosaria Di Mauro; Giuseppina Cantarella; Renato Bernardini; Michelino Di Rosa; Ignazio Barbagallo; Alfio Distefano; Lucia Longhitano; Nunzio Vicario; Daniela Nicolosi; Giacomo Lazzarino; Daniele Tibullo; Maria Eugenia Gulino; Mariarita Spampinato; Roberto Avola; Giovanni Li Volti

doi:10.3390/ijms20030634

The Biochemical and Pharmacological Properties of Ozone: The Smell of Protection in Acute and Chronic Diseases

Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Feb 1;20(3):634. doi: 10.3390/ijms20030634.

Authors

Rosaria Di Mauro¹, Giuseppina Cantarella², Renato Bernardini³, Michelino Di Rosa⁴, Ignazio Barbagallo⁵, Alfio Distefano⁶, Lucia Longhitano⁷, Nunzio Vicario⁸, Daniela Nicolosi⁹, Giacomo Lazzarino^{10

11}, Daniele Tibullo¹², Maria Eugenia Gulino¹³, Mariarita Spampinato¹⁴, Roberto Avola¹⁵, Giovanni Li Volti^{16

17}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
² Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
³ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
⁴ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
⁵ Department of Drug Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria, 6, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
⁶ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
⁷ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
⁸ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
⁹ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
¹⁰ Institute of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Catholic University of Rome, 00168 Rome, Italy. [email protected].
¹¹ Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy. [email protected].
¹² Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
¹³ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
¹⁴ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
¹⁵ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
¹⁶ Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 97, 95125 Catania, Italy. [email protected].
¹⁷ EuroMediterranean Institute of Science and Technology, 90139 Palermo, Italy. [email protected].

Abstract

Ozone therapy has been widely used in everyday clinical practice over the last few years, leading to significant clinical results in the treatment of herniated discs and pain management. Nevertheless, further studies have demonstrated its potential efficacy and safety under other clinical and experimental conditions. However, some of these studies showed controversial results regarding the safety and efficacy of ozone therapy, thus mining its potential use in an everyday clinical practice. To this regard, it should be considered that extensive literature review reported the use of ozone in a significant different dose range and with different delivery systems. The aim of the present review is to describe the various pharmacological effects of ozone in different organs and clinical conditions and to provide possible biochemical and molecular insights for ozone biological properties, thus providing a possible explanation for various controversial clinical outcomes described in the scientific literature.

Keywords: inflammation; medical gas; organ protection; oxidative stress; ozone.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Acute Disease
Cardiovascular Diseases / genetics
Cardiovascular Diseases / immunology
Cardiovascular Diseases / pathology
Cardiovascular Diseases / therapy*
Chemotaxis / drug effects
Chemotaxis / immunology
Chronic Disease
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
Immunity, Innate / drug effects
Intervertebral Disc / drug effects
Intervertebral Disc / immunology
Intervertebral Disc / pathology
Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / genetics
Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / immunology
Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / pathology
Intervertebral Disc Degeneration / therapy*
Intervertebral Disc Displacement / genetics
Intervertebral Disc Displacement / immunology
Intervertebral Disc Displacement / pathology
Intervertebral Disc Displacement / therapy*
Oxidative Stress
Ozone / administration & dosage*
Ozone / adverse effects
Pain / genetics
Pain / immunology
Pain / pathology
Pain / prevention & control*
Pain Management / methods
Protective Agents / administration & dosage*
Protective Agents / adverse effects
Skin Diseases / genetics
Skin Diseases / immunology
Skin Diseases / pathology
Skin Diseases / therapy*

Substances

Protective Agents
Ozone

Supplementary concepts

Intervertebral disc disease

Grants and funding

FIR 2016-2018/Università di Catania