Cell biology and proposed mechanisms
Lipid oxidation products (LOPs)
Lipid oxidation products are the chemicals formed when an oxidant attacks fats, particularly the polyunsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes and blood. They include aldehydes such as 4-hydroxynonenal and malondialdehyde. In ozone therapy they are proposed as the messengers that carry the effect onward.
Also called LOPs, lipid peroxidation products, 4-HNE, malondialdehyde, ozone messengers
The chemistry
When a strong oxidant meets a polyunsaturated fatty acid, it breaks carbon-carbon double bonds and produces a mixture of shorter reactive molecules, chiefly aldehydes. The two most studied are 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Lipid peroxidation: production, metabolism, and signaling mechanisms of malondialdehyde and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (2014), is a thorough review. It is explicit that these molecules are two-faced: at low concentration they act as signalling molecules that switch on protective genes; at high concentration they damage proteins and DNA. MDA is also routinely used in laboratories as a marker of damage.
Why the term is used here
Dr Velio Bocci’s account is that ozone does not travel through the body as ozone. It dissolves in the water film on the skin or in plasma, reacts immediately with fatty acids, and is used up. What remains is hydrogen peroxide plus a range of lipid oxidation products, and Bocci calls those the “ozone messengers” responsible for the biological effects. In his account, reactive oxygen species act as the immediate effectors and LOPs as the later, longer-range ones.
Why dose is the whole question
The same molecules that are proposed to carry the benefit at low concentration are the ones that cause damage at high concentration. That is the reason an ozone generator has ten adjustable levels rather than a single setting, and the reason sessions start low.
Why it matters here
LOPs are how ozone is proposed to have an effect on the body when the gas itself never gets past the skin. They are also why the ozone level is a setting to use thoughtfully rather than at maximum.