Prevention of Covid-19 Infection and Related Complications by Ozonized Oils

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the human population; therefore, multiple prevention and intervention protocols are being rapidly developed. The aim of our study was to develop a new chemo-prophylactic/-therapeutic strategy that effectively prevents COVID-19 and related complications.

Methods: In in vitro studies, COVID-19 infection-sensitive cells were incubated with human oropharyngeal fluids containing high SARS-CoV-2 loads. Levels of infection were determined via intra-cellular virus loads using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Efficacies for infection prevention were determined using several antiviral treatments: lipid-encapsulated ozonized oil (HOO), water-soluble HOO (HOOws), UV, and hydrogen peroxide. In in vivo studies, safety and efficacy of HOO in fighting COVID-19 infection was evaluated in human subjects.

Results: HOO in combination with HOOws was the only treatment able to fully neutralize SARS-CoV-2 as well as its capacity to penetrate and reproduce inside sensitive cells. Accordingly, the feasibility of using HOO/HOOws was tested in vivo. Analysis of expired gas in healthy subjects indicates that HOO administration increases oxygen availability in the lung. For our human studies, HOO/HOOws was administered to 52 cancer patients and 21 healthy subjects at high risk for COVID-19 infection, and all of them showed clinical safety. None of them developed COVID-19 infection, although an incidence of at least 11 cases was expected. Efficacy of HOO/HOOws was tested in four COVID-19 patients obtaining recovery and qPCR negativization in less than 10 days.

Conclusions: Based on our experience, the HOO/HOOws treatment can be administered at standard doses (three pills per day) for chemo-prophylactic purposes to healthy subjects for COVID-19 prevention and at high doses (up to eight pills per day) for therapeutic purposes to infected patients. This combined prevention strategy can provide a novel protocol to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 challenge test; SARS-CoV-2; chemoprophylaxis; oxidative stress; prevention.

Figure 1

Number of qPCR positive amplification cycles for two SARS-CoV-2 viral genes (N, Orf1) under different prevention treatment protocols. Horizontal black line indicates the positivity threshold; samples negative at the 40th qPCR cycles were negative. Columns height is inversely related to the amount of SARS-CoV-2 penetrated inside Vero cells. All preventive treatments tested significantly decreased intracellular viral load. The only treatment able to restore, despite SARS-CoV2 presence in cell culture; the negative results obtained with negative control were HOO+HOOws.

Figure 2

Left panel. Inhibition of pulmonary alveolar macrophage-activation by HOO. Panel (A), macrophages are activated in presence of Lps bacterial endotoxins changing their shape and emitting long pseudopods. Panel (B), macrophage activation does not occur despite the presence of Lps when cells are pretreated with ozonized oil (HOO). Right panel. Intracellular delivery of HOO (red labeled) in pulmonary cells. Panel (C), no penetration of red-labeled peanuts oil occurs in lung cells blue-stained for their nucleus and green-stained for their cytoplasmic membranes. Panel (D), Abundant penetration in cytoplasm of red-labeled ozonized oil (HOO) in lung cells.

Figure 3

(A–C). Possible mechanisms for sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 19 virus to HOO. Panel (A) Neutralization of spike proteins; HOO oxidation blocks the sites of the spike protein used by SARS-Cov-2 to bind cell receptor ACE2; this situation is highlighted by the darkening of spike protein when treated with HOO (light blue circles). Panel (B) Peroxidation of the lipid viral envelope; due to the low spike-protein density, and wide sections of the SARS-Cov-2 lipid envelope are exposed to the interaction with HOO; this situation results in the peroxidation of the viral lipid envelope, as envisaged by the darkening of this structure when interacting with HOO (light blue circles). Panel (C) HOO has a unique ability to penetrate inside cell cytoplasm where the viral replication cycle occurs hidden from extracellular disinfectants; HOO is able to neutralize intracellular viral assembly oxidizing viral components inside the intracellular environment (darkening of intracellular viral fragments when interacting with HOO light-blue circles). From left to right: normal cell, cell infected by SARS-Cov-2, and cell infected by SARS-Cov-2 treated with HOO.