ANALGESIC EFFECT OF SUBCUTANEOUS ADMINISTRATION OF OXYGEN-OZONE. A BLIND STUDY IN THE RAT ON THE MODULATION OF THE CAPSAICIN-INDUCED EDEMA

Abstract

The Authors have explored a new complementary approach, employed in the last 40 years for, among other uses, medical purposes: oxygen-ozone therapy. Anecdotal works have highlighted interesting results obtained in disk herniation with infiltration of paravertebral muscles with oxygen-ozone. To verify the existence of a nociceptive effect and investigate a possible mechanism of action, an experimental model of edema induction by subcutaneous capsaicin injection in the rat paw was employed. Oxygen-ozone, in different concentrations (10 µg/ml, 20 µg/ml and 30 µg/ml) has been injected both ipsi- and contralaterally to the paw 30 minutes before the administration of 50 µg capsaicin in 50 µl of physiological solution. Results show that the contralateral injection of the O₂-O₃ mixture modulates the edema response in the paw. Statistical significance, for the 20 µg/ml mixture, lasts as far as 45 minutes after administration of the capsaicin. No efficacy has been found for the 10 and 30 µg/ml concentrations. An injection of the same quantity of gas in the ipsilateral paw to the capsaicin-induced edema determines a worse edema than that observed in the control group, as if the ozone mixture added its irritative effect to that of capsaicin. It is interesting to note that the administration of oxygen alone cause a greater edema than the oxygen-ozone mixture.