Clinical efficacy and metabolomic analysis of ozone major autohemotherapy for the treatment of herpes zoster

INTRODUCTION: It is essential to understand the underlying changes in the patients’ metabolic profiles that may be indicative of the therapy’s effectiveness. AIM: To prospectively analyse the clinical efficacy of ozone autohemotherapy in the treatment of acute herpes zoster and investigate its impact on serum metabolomics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 76 patients with acute herpes zoster between May 2018 and June 2020 were enrolled and divided into an experimental group and a control group. The pain location, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores before and after treatment (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months post-treatment), medication usage, and Quality of Sleep (QS) scores were prospectively analysed. Additionally, serum metabolomic data were obtained and analysed before and 6 months after the treatment. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in the total NRS scores before and after ozone autohemotherapy (p < 0.05). The NRS scores of both groups significantly decreased (p < 0.05). At the 6-month follow-up, no patients were lost, and 83 patients completed the follow-up. The NRS improvement at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months post-treatment in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the medication usage (pregabalin or tramadol sustained-release tablets) between the two groups (p > 0.05). One month after treatment, the QS score improvement in the diabetes group was significantly lower than that in the non-diabetes group (p < 0.05). Serum metabolomics analysis revealed three significantly decreased metabolites, namely creatine, adipate, and glucose, after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Ozone autohemotherapy is an effective treatment for acute herpes zoster patients and can rapidly and effectively alleviate pain symptoms in the short term. The changes in serum metabolomics may provide further insights into the treatment mechanism.