The exposure to low doses of ozone induces an oxidative stress state, which is involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Forkhead box O (FoxO) family of transcription factors are activated by oxidative signals and regulate cell proliferation and resistance to oxidative stress. Our aim was to study the effect of chronic exposure to ozone on the activation of FoxO 1a and FoxO 3a in the hippocampus of rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into six groups and exposed to 0.25 ppm of ozone for 0, 7, 15, 30, 60, and 90 days. After treatment, the groups were processed for western blotting and immunohistochemistry against FoxO 3a, Mn SOD, cyclin D2, FoxO 1a, and active caspase 3. We found that exposure to ozone increased the activation of FoxO 3a at 30 and 60 days and expression of Mn SOD at all treatment times. Additionally, increases in cyclin D2 from 7 to 90 days; FoxO 1a at 15, 30, and 60 days; and activate caspase 3 from 30 to 60 days of exposure were noted. The results indicate that ozone alters regulatory pathways related to both the antioxidant system and the cell cycle, inducing neuronal reentry into the cell cycle and apoptotic death.

Patients with degenerative diseases present a chronic oxidative stress state, which puts them at a disadvantage when facing viral infections such as COVID-19. This is because there is a close relationship between redox signaling and this inflammatory response. Therefore, chronic changes in the redox balance cause alterations in the regulation of the immune system. An inflammatory response that must be reparative and self-limited loses its function and remains over time. In a chronic state of oxidative stress, there is a deficiency of antioxidants. This results in low levels of hormones, vitamins and trace elements, which are essential for the regulation of these systems. Furthermore, low levels of antioxidants imply a diminished capacity for a regulated inflammatory responses are much more vulnerable to a cytokine storm that mainly attacks the lungs, since they present a vicious circle between the null or diminished response of the antioxidant systems and the loss of regulation of the inflammatory process. Therefore, these patients are at a disadvantage in counteracting the response of defense systems to infection from SAR-COV19. A plausible option may be to restore the levels of Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and of essential trace elements such as manganese, selenium, zinc, in the body, which are key to either preventing or reducing the severity of the response of the immune system to the disease caused by SAR-CoV2. For the present review, we searched the specific sites of the Cochrane library database, PubMed and Medscape. The inclusion criteria were documents written in English or Spanish, published during the last 10 years.