AVALIAÇÃO DA EFICIÊNCIA DO ÓLEO OZONIZADO COMO COMPLEMENTO À TERAPIA MEDICAMENTOSA EM INFECÇÕES CUTÂNEAS CAUSADAS PELA LEISHMANIOSE

Abstract

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a chronic disease that affects thousands of people annually, with complex treatment, due to a long time for healing and the high toxicity of the drugs used for this process. Ozone has gained space in medicine and is used as an adjuvant in treatments showing immunomodulatory and healing activity. OBJECTIVE: This study proposes using ozonated sunflower oil therapy to aid in the standard treatment of skin lesions caused by Leishmania amazonensis in an experimental model. METHODOLOGY: 30 BALB/c mice (CEUA n° 01/21) were randomly distributed into five groups (G1, G2, G3, G4, and G5). Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 were infected with L. amazonensis in the right hind paw. The G5 group served as an uninfected control in the study. The treatments lasted 30 days. Group G3 received treatment with a reference drug (Glucantime®) during the period, and Group G1 received Glucantime® plus topical application of ozonated oil. Group G2 received only ozonated oil in the paw, and Group G4 received no treatment (positive control of the lesion). Every ten days of treatment, measurements and photographic records of the lesions, blood leukocyte count, and slide smear were performed to analyze the leukocyte differential. At the end of the treatment, the animals were euthanized and collected: blood by a cardiac puncture for leukocyte count and serological assays; peritoneal macrophages and popliteal lymph node cells for analysis of cytokine and nitric oxide production; and the injured paw was divided into four segments, in order to evaluate the histological findings, oxidative stress biomarkers, presence of parasites in the lesion (culture) and immunodetection of proteins by Western Blotting. RESULTS: Sunflower oil proved an excellent vehicle, with ozone concentration practically unchanged during the 30 days of treatment. In the in vitro analysis, the concentration of 160 µg/mL of the ozonated oil had the same effect as Glucantime®, with no detection of parasites on any of the days analyzed. The groups treated with Glucantime® (with and without ozone) showed no active lesion in the histological findings, with evident healing. Thus, the ozonated oil acted as a synergistic adjuvant to Glucantime® in treating lesions caused by leishmaniasis in an animal model.