Ozone therapy is not new. It has been used in medicine for well over a century, and there are now more than 2,000 published medical studies on PubMed exploring its applications across a wide range of conditions. But the research keeps growing, and some of the most recent findings are worth paying close attention to.
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in January 2026 looked specifically at major autohemotherapy (MAH) in patients with psoriasis, measuring both clinical severity and serum inflammatory markers before and after treatment. What it found offers a useful window into why ozone therapy continues to attract serious scientific interest, and why we offer it here at Valley Vital Medicine in Fargo, ND.
What the Study Looked At
Psoriasis is more than a skin condition. It is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disease, meaning the inflammation it involves is not confined to skin plaques. People with psoriasis often carry elevated levels of inflammatory markers in their blood, and those elevated markers are associated with increased cardiovascular risk and a higher likelihood of other inflammatory conditions developing over time.
The researchers enrolled 26 psoriasis patients and 19 healthy controls. Patients ranged in age from 18 to 60 and were not using systemic drug therapy at the time, so the ozone therapy was being evaluated on its own. Disease severity was assessed using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), a validated clinical scoring tool. Serum levels of several inflammatory markers were measured before and after treatment, including TNF-alpha, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1B), high-sensitivity CRP (Hs-CRP), sialic acid, and Siglec-14.
How the Treatment Was Administered
Major autohemotherapy works by drawing a measured volume of the patient’s own blood, exposing it to a controlled oxygen-ozone mixture, and then returning the treated blood intravenously. The ozone concentration in this study started at 20 micrograms per milliliter and was gradually increased for each patient up to a maximum of 60 micrograms per milliliter based on individual response.
Treatments were administered twice per week for a total of 8 to 10 sessions. For most patients, that means the entire treatment course was completed within four to five weeks. This is a point worth noting: meaningful outcomes were achieved within a relatively short, structured course of therapy.
What the Researchers Found
PASI scores, the measure of skin disease severity, decreased significantly in psoriasis patients after ozone autohemotherapy. That alone is a clinically meaningful result. But the biomarker findings add an important dimension.
Hs-CRP, one of the most widely used markers of systemic inflammation and a known predictor of cardiovascular risk, decreased significantly across all patients after treatment. The decrease was most pronounced in patients with mild disease, though reductions were observed across both mild and moderate-to-severe groups. Siglec-14, a marker involved in regulating the innate immune response, also decreased significantly in all patients, with reductions seen in both severity groups.
The researchers noted that the significant drop in Hs-CRP suggests major autohemotherapy may affect not only the skin manifestations of psoriasis but its underlying systemic inflammatory component. They specifically noted the potential long-term cardiovascular benefit of this reduction, given that elevated Hs-CRP is an established risk factor for heart disease in people with psoriasis.
TNF-alpha, IL-1B, and sialic acid showed trends toward reduction in psoriasis patients across the treatment course, though those changes did not reach statistical significance in this study.
How Ozone Therapy Works on Inflammation
The anti-inflammatory effects observed in this study align with what researchers have proposed about ozone’s mechanisms of action more broadly. Ozone activates the body’s antioxidant defense systems, including pathways regulated by Nrf2, which help balance oxidative stress. It appears to suppress inflammatory signaling through the TLR2/NF-kB pathway, a pathway that drives keratinocyte overproliferation and inflammatory cytokine release in psoriasis. It also appears to support immune regulation by influencing Th17 cell activity, a key driver of psoriatic inflammation.
In short, ozone does not suppress inflammation bluntly the way many pharmaceutical treatments do. It appears to work by helping the body regulate its own inflammatory response more effectively. That distinction matters clinically, especially for patients managing a chronic condition over the long term.
What This Study’s Limitations Tell Us
Good science is honest about what it does and does not prove. The authors of this study acknowledged two primary limitations: the relatively small sample size (26 patients) and the short follow-up period, which means the long-term durability of the improvements observed is not yet established. The researchers called for larger randomized controlled trials to further evaluate the efficacy, safety, and mechanisms of major autohemotherapy in psoriasis.
Those limitations do not diminish the findings. A statistically significant reduction in both PASI scores and key inflammatory biomarkers in a controlled study, using a clearly defined protocol, is meaningful. It adds to a growing body of evidence supporting ozone therapy’s role as a complementary tool in managing chronic inflammatory conditions, and it does so with a stronger methodological foundation than much of the earlier literature in this area.
How We Use Ozone Therapy at Valley Vital Medicine
Trevor Hausauer, FNP-C, has used ozone therapy extensively at Valley Vital Medicine and describes it as one of the most effective tools in integrative care. The clinic offers major autohemotherapy alongside other ozone applications, as part of individualized treatment plans for patients dealing with chronic inflammation, autoimmune conditions, metabolic dysfunction, infections, and other complex health challenges.
Ozone therapy is not positioned as a standalone cure. At Valley Vital Medicine, it is used as part of a comprehensive, root-cause approach that considers what is actually driving a patient’s health challenges and builds a plan around addressing those drivers directly.
If you are dealing with a chronic inflammatory condition, skin condition, or other health challenges and want to understand whether ozone therapy may be a useful part of your care, we would love to have that conversation.
Call 701-532-1926 or visit
valleyvitalmedicine.com/contact-us to schedule your free discovery call and learn more about ozone therapy and our full range of integrative health services.
Medical Disclaimer: The information in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Ozone therapy is not FDA-approved as a treatment for any specific condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before beginning any new therapy.
References:
- Soylu S, Sensoy N, Dogan N, Koca HB, Koken T. Evaluation of major autohemotherapy (MAH) in psoriasis patients using serum inflammatory markers. J Clin Med. 2026;15(2):485. doi:10.3390/jcm15020485.
- Viebahn-Haensler R, Leon Fernandez OS. Ozone in medicine: The low-dose ozone concept and its basic biochemical mechanisms of action in chronic inflammatory diseases. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22(15):7890.
- Liu L, Zeng L, Gao L, Zeng J, Lu J. Ozone therapy for skin diseases: Cellular and molecular mechanisms. Int Wound J. 2023;20(6):2376-2385.
- Zeng J, Lu J. Mechanisms of action involved in ozone-therapy in skin diseases. Int Immunopharmacol. 2018;56:235-241.
