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Background: Pediculosis is an infestation of lice affecting mostly children and spreads by direct contact with the hair of someone infected. Although topical application of a pediculicide such as permethrin shampoo is the most common cure for head lice, the addition of alternative treatments is necessary due to permethrin resistance and some safety concerns, including irritation, burning sensation, tingling, and breathing problems. Recent studies have indicated that ozone, which is an allotropic form of oxygen, may have anti-pediculosis effects. Objective: This study focused on the evaluation of an ozonated olive oil topical lotion for the treatment of pediculosis and the comparison of its effects with permethrin shampoo. Methods: 121 patients with proven head pediculosis were divided into two groups. They were treated with either topical ozonated olive oil lotion or permethrin shampoo for one week. Results: It was shown that the ozonation process enormously improved the physico-chemical properties of olive oil. Specifically, acid and peroxide values increased 60 fold and 200 fold, respectively, while there was a sharp decline for the iodine index (81.8±1.28 to 0 g iodine per 100 g). Additionally, all patients who received the ozonated olive oil lotion were entirely cured after one week of treatment, while those who were treated with permethrin, required to receive more. Statistical analysis of the data also proved this claim. Conclusion: The prepared lotion has shown significant effects in controlling head lice. Thus, it can be prescribed as an effective anti-pediculosis medicine which is biocompatible and has high potential. Clinical Trial Registration: IRCT registration number of IRCT2017100936672N1 (2017-11-14) https://en.irct.ir/trial/27343.

Ozone has been fascinated by researchers as an outstanding disinfectant due to its oxidizing properties. It can react with unsaturated substrates chemically, which results in active ozonized compounds. In literature, ozonized olive oil was characterized by different factors such as peroxide value (PV), a significant feature to define the quality of oils. It has been proven previously that even minor changes in the reaction conditions can effect on the PV. In this study, peroxide content was evaluated in extra virgin olive oil and its ozonized form under various conditions including variable temperatures, sample amounts and reaction times. The results indicated that although iodometric method is an official technique for determining the PV of oils, but also dependent to the amount, temperature and time for ozonized olive oil.

This study presents results of ozonation of some different aromatic rings of medicines in aqueous solution. The aim of the research was to investigate the influence of ozone on ring cleavage of drug molecules with an aromatic structure. In this regard, phenobarbital, naphazoline, doxycycline, isoniazid and salbutamol were chosen for exposure to ozone gas overnight. It is proved that ozone can attack the OH groups, opening the aromatic ring to form unsaturated acids, aldehydes and linear alkyl/cycloalkyl groups which then appear as stable products. It is suggested that the first step in these reactions includes penetration of ozone at the C-H bond with the formation of a quinone and a subsequent attack of the aromatic ring T-bond system by the ozone with the formation of ozonides. With this process, ozonation can produce simple, biodegradable and less carcinogenic compounds from complex aromatic ones. Key words: Ozone, aromatic compound, oxidation, toxicity.