Virucidal levels of ozone induce hemolysis and hemoglobin degradation

The animal virus, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), and the bacterial virus, phi 6, were inactivated by greater than 4 log10 in response to incubation with 13 to 14 mL of 1.4 mmol per L (65 micrograms/mL) to 1.6 mmol per L (75 micrograms/mL) of overlaid ozone in virus-spiked, dilute, red cell suspensions. Virus inactivation was greatly inhibited when ozone was overlaid in the presence of high-hematocrit red cells or, to a lesser degree, high levels of plasma. At hematocrits at which 5 to 6 log10 of VSV were inactivated, ozone caused 30-percent hemolysis, as measured by the loss of total cellular hemoglobin. Unexpectedly, this level of hemolysis could not be observed in supernatants because of the ozone-induced destruction (bleaching) of extracellular hemoglobin. These results suggest that ozone may have little biological specificity for damaging viruses over red cells.