| Dr.
Frank Hernández Rosales
Ozone Research Center
Calle 230 No. 1313 esq. Avenida 15, Siboney, Playa,
Apartado Postal 6412, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba.
Phones: (53-7) 271-2324, 271-1335
Fax: (53-7) 271-0233
E-mail:frank.hernandez@cnic.edu.cu
One of the reasons why ozone in
medicine has not been approved as a common practice
in medicine it is its use without any appropriate
control. Consequently, a system of therapeutic control
and toxic safety is very important for the applications
of systemic ozone therapy. The use of specific biochemical
parameters to control the dose to be used with regards
to the therapeutic safety and effects has been increasingly
important 1,2 and it would support the bases for a
non-empirical application. However, there is not yet
a generalized criterion of the specific biochemical
indexes that can be useful to assess the non-occurrence
of toxic effects and the therapeutic effects of the
systemic ozone therapy.
The ozone therapy is closely related
to the "oxidative stress" conception because
it generates an antioxidant effect 3,4 through the
stimulation of the defense systems against the activity
f the noxious oxidative species.
The occurrence of reactive oxygenated
species, known as pro-oxidants, is an attribute of
the normal aerobic life. The stable formation of the
pro-oxidants is balanced by a similar relationship
of its consumption by the enzymatic and-or non-enzymatic
antioxidants. The oxidative stress is the result of
an unbalance in the pro-oxidants-antioxidants equilibrium
on account of the pro-oxidants.
There are many diseases associated
to oxidative stress, including many physiological
and pathophysiological processes and phenomena so
diverse as inflammation, aging, viral and bacterial
infections, carcinogenesis, drugs action, drugs toxicity
and defense against protozoa, those constitute the
bases of the antioxidant therapy.
The diagnosis of oxidative stress
is highly relevant in such processes and in the application
of antioxidant therapies. With regards to safety,
the delicate equilibrium that exists between oxidants
and antioxidants must be considered (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. The
prooxidant/antioxidant homeostatic balance
Nevertheless, that equilibrium can be disturbed by
an excessive production of free and organic radicals
or a defect in the cell's defense systems, thus producing
a pro-oxidant condition 5. A pronounced unbalance
that favors the pro-oxidant condition is characterized
by an oxidative stress that produces deleterious effects,
as in hyperoxemia. That is why it is convenient to
know that patient's pro-oxidant and antioxidant condition
before and during the application of the ozone therapy.
With regards to the therapeutic effects, it is also
convenient to know the condition of the metabolic
activity of the organism before and during the application
of the ozone therapy.
In the Ozone Research Center, a
specific and reliable system has been designed for
the diagnosis of oxidative stress, based on the analysis
of eight parameters measured in a blood test, including
enzymatic and non-enzymatic pro-oxidants and antioxidants.
A program that allows knowing the balance or unbalance
of the oxidant and pro-oxidant activities has been
developed. Besides, it is possible to obtain a great
amount of information from the different biochemical
markers, that makes possible a better understanding
of the patient's biological condition and the usefulness
of ozone therapy. This diagnostic system allows the
use of customized protocols for the treatment of each
patient with a safe real control.
References:
- Bocci, B. "Does ozone therapy
normalize the cellular redox balance?", Medical
Hypotheses, 46:150-154 (1996).
- Kontorschikova, C. N. "Biochemical
safety control in ozone therapy", in Proceedings
of the 12th Ozone World Congress, (Lille, France:
International Ozone Association, 1995), Vol. 3,
pp. 231-234.
- Hernández,
F.; Menéndez, S.; Gómez, M.; Eng,
L. "Efecto de la ozonoterapia intravascular
sobre el sistema de la glutation peroxidasa",
Revista CENIC Ciencias Biológicas, 20(1-2-3):37-40
(1989).
- Hernández, F.; Menéndez
S.; Wong, R. "Decrease of blood cholesterol
and stimulation of antioxidative response in cardiopathy
patients treated with endovenous ozone therapy",
Free. Radic. Biol. Med., 19(1):115-119 (1995).
- Knobeloch, L. M.; Blondin, G.
A.; Lyford, S. B.; Harkin, J. M. "A rapid bioassay
for chemical that induce pro-oxidant states",
J. Appl. Toxicol., 10:1-5 (1990).
|
