High potency of ozone gas to inactivate the Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces during hydatid cyst surgery

: In medicine, ozone therapy is effectively used in a broad spectrum of diseases. Reviews have shown that ozone gas demonstrates potent antimicrobial effects against a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms such as oral bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasite even in resistance strains. The present investigation was model designed to assess the protoscolicidal effects of ozone gas on hydatid cysts protoscoleces on in vitro and in vivo. Hydatid cyst protoscoleces were acquired from sheep livers that were slaughtered at Kerman slaughterhouse, Iran. The viability of protoscoleces was assessed by the eosin exclusion examination after exposure with ozone gas after 1 to 14 minutes in vitro and ex vivo. In this study, in vitro assay showed that ozone gas at the concentration of 20 mg/L killed 85 and 100% of hydatid cyst protoscoleces after 4 and 6 min of treatment, respectively. However, in the ex vivo analysis, needing a more time to confirm a potent protoscolicidal activity; so that ozone gas after exposure time of 12 min, approximately killed 100% of protoscoleces within the hydatid cyst. In conclusion, the findings of the present study showed that ozone gas at low concentrations (20 mg/L) and short times (4-6 min) might be used as a novel protoscolicidal drug for use in hydatid cyst surgery. However, more clinical surveys are mandatory to discover precise biological activity of ozone gas in animal and human subjects.