| Summary: | Ozone therapy has been used as a form of alternative medicine but has
encountered scepticism by orthodox medicine concerning its effectiveness
and toxicity. We assessed the acute and chronic effect of O3
autohaemotherapy (AHT) on liver and muscle damage in baboons. During
the acute effect three groups of baboons were used. The first group (n=11)
were treated with an O2/O3 gas mixture containing different ozone
concentrations i.e. 20, 40 and 80 μg/ml O3 . The second group (n=5) were
treated with pure O2 and the third group (n=3) received no treatment and were
used to assess the effect of ketamine anaesthesia. O2 and O3-AHT was
performed on the baboons by using 5% of their total blood volume. Blood
samples were collected in heparin before each treatment and again at 4, 24
and 48 hours. Ketamine anaesthesia caused both liver and muscle damage.
Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and
creatine kinase (CK) levels increased markedly. O2-AHT had no marked
effect on liver and muscle damage and O3-AHT had a protective effect since
the increase in AST, ALT and CK levels was not as dramatic as when
ketamine alone was used. During the chronic effect O3-AHT were done on 6
baboons, using a O2/O3 gas mixture containing 40 μg/ml O3. Blood were
collected before treatment and again at 4, 24, 28, 48, 52, 72 and 96 hours
after the first treatment. ALT levels increased during the treatment period of
52 hours and remained elevated for 48 hours following treatment. AST levels
increased during the four hours following each treatment and remained
elevated for 48 hours following the last treatment. CK levels increased
markedly dl-ring the four hours following each treatment, but after treatment
was stopped the CK levels decreased dramatically. The magnitude of
changes was small and does not support the view that in vitro ozonation of
blood is toxic when the treated blood is reinjected back into the baboon.
In conclusion, the results do not prove or disprove that 03-AHT caused severe
cell damage in baboons. We used 40 μg/ml O3 in the studies where the
baboons were treated sequentially (chapter 3). This was because the results
obtained with dose of 80 μg/ml O3 were not largely different from that with 40
μg/ml O3 in the acute studies (chapter 2). It was proven in these two studies
and also other studies. It was proven in these two studies and also in other
studies. I also have no ready explanation of the mechanism through which
the liver and muscle were protected by ozone. This has to be investigated. === Thesis (M.Sc. (Biochemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.
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