Dr. Silvia Menéndez Cepero, PhD:

Saturday, November 19th:

OZONATED VEGETABLE OILS. BASIC PRINCIPLES AND NEW APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT

Germicidal properties of ozone are not only limited to ozone, but they are also present in the products from the reaction of this gas with certain substances. Subsequently, oils of vegetable origin have become an adequate means for ozone therapy due to their very marked germicidal and parasiticide properties which make them useful in the treatment of various diseases. Ozone interaction with unsaturated molecules, among them, those of vegetable oils, generates the formation of a mixture of chemical compounds, such as ozonides and peroxides, just like what has been postulated for ozone interaction with unsaturated fatty acids present in the biological fluids. Ozonides and peroxides have a germicidal property, which makes them useful for the treatment of infected wounds, fistulae, and other local septic processes. Of all fatty acids present in vegetable oils only unsaturated ones can easily react with ozone, these include oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. Of these, the oleic and linoleic acids are the most important, for they have the highest concentrations within these oils. The reaction between vegetable oil and ozone is an oxidation reaction, where peroxidic compounds are formed significantly rising the peroxide index of the oil dealt with, thus, favoring their oxidation processes and further degradation. Studies carried out have made it possible to elucidate and verify the different chemical structures in ozonated oil, which are: ozonides, hydroperoxides, acids, aldehydes, polymeric peroxidic compounds, and other peroxidic species. From the therapeutical point of view, the use of topical ozonated vegetable oils instead of ozone gas, for the treatment of infectious diseases is advantageous in having greater stability compared to ozone. This enables the application of the treatment to patients in an ambulatory way without requiring their everyday presence at the office. The use of topical ozonated vegetable oil medicament can be additive to other forms of ozone application through systemic as well as local ways. From the group of studies conducted it can be concluded that ozonated vegetable oils, in any of its therapeutical forms, are an antimicrobial product of a wide spectrum with inhibiting and lethal activity over positive and negative Gram bacteria, strains multiresistant to antibiotics, mycobacterium species, strains of the Candida genera, as well as some protozoa, such as  Giardia lamblia, fungus, and virus. Very good results have been obtained in the treatment of tinea pedis, onychomycosis, impetigo, healing of wounds, psoriasis, giardiasis, and acute herpetic gingivostomatitis, stomatitis, acne, atopic dermatitis, vulvovaginitis, among others.