Ozone high dose therapy (OHT) improves mitochondrial bioenergetics in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

BACKGROUND: The worldwide increasing number of people with chronic diseases is pushing conventional therapy to its limits. The so-called Major AutoHaemo Therapy (MAH) has been used in many practices for years. Despite suspicions, especially the 10-passes ozone-high-dosis Therapy (OHT) has shown substantial benefits in chronic ailments. However, knowledge of scientifically based effects of high ozone concentrations are still rare. The present investigation focussed on verifying whether OHT may be linked to a beneficial effect on mitochondrial bioenergetics which can be expressed as a bioenergetic health index (BHI). METHODS: We report on six patients which received OHT for preventive purposes twice within one week. The BHI in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is calculated from parameters of a cellular mitochondrial function assay, which gives insights into different aspects of mitochondrial function: 1) Basal oxygen consumption rate (OCR); 2) ATP-linked OCR and proton leak; 3) Maximal OCR and reserve capacity; 4) Non-mitochondrial OCR. RESULTS: The results clearly show that the bioenergetic health index in PBMC improves significantly after just 2 OHT applications over a period of 1 week. The overall improvement of the BHI is based primarily on a significant increase in the reserve capacity and the maximum respiration of the mitochondria. The increase in non-mitochondrial oxygen consumption, which has a negative impact on the BHI value, is indicative for the Nrf-2 dependent activation of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes activated through OHT. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate for the first time the beneficial effect of OHT on mitochondrial parameters. Thus, the results of this study suggest that OHT could be a safe and effective therapeutic option alone or as integrative and complementary support for pharmacological therapy in a variety of chronic and acute diseases where mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role.