Effect of Ozone Therapy on Aerobic Exercise Performance

Medical ozone is a mixture of pure ozone gas (0.05-5%) and pure oxygen (99.95-95%). It is produced from pure medical oxygen by medical ozone generators. It is suggested that ozone therapy, which is used to treat a wide variety of diseases and is especially useful in the treatment of tissue ischemia and cardiovascular disorders, creates a mild, temporary and controlled oxidative stress and modulates the antioxidant system and immune system. It was reported that ozone exerted its effects by induction of reactive oxygen species and lipid oxygen products known as ozonides. The therapy modulates the immune system by balancing inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, increasing antioxidant enzymes and increasing glutathione production. In addition, it increases the production of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) by causing an increase in the rate of red blood cell (RBC) glycolysis, improves red cell rheology, increases the oxidative carboxylation of pyruvate, and activates the hexose monophosphate pathway by stimulating adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. With a decrease in potential of hydrogen (pH) and a slight increase in 2,3-DPG, the sigmoid curve of oxyhemoglobin shifts to the right due to the Bohr effect. The shift to the right reduces the chemical binding of oxygen to hemoglobin, facilitating oxygen delivery to ischemic tissues. Considering that the most important determinant of exercise performance is tissue oxygenation and that the antioxidant system has a positive effect on fatigue, these data lead to the idea that ozone can improve exercise performance.

There are a few studies in the literature investigating the effect of major ozone treatment on exercise performance. The arguments suggesting that major ozone therapy is effective in exercise performance are based on publications made outside of this subject, which include the mechanism of action of major ozone therapy.

Thus, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of the ozone therapy applied using the major autohemotherapy method on exercise performance with changes in fatigue, exercise duration, blood lactate changes level, anaerobic threshold, and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max).

Inclusion criteria

• male
• healthy
• aged between 18-35 years old

Exclusion criteria

• suffering from a low back or lower extremity injury or surgical operation in the last one year
• having cardiovascular disease
• having glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme deficiency
• having chronic metabolic disease
• having hyperthyroidism, mental and psychological problems.