The inorganic component of bone matrix, hydroxyapatite (HAp) (with formula Ca(PO)(OH)), can be obtained from inexpensive waste resources that serve as excellent calcium precursors. In the present study, HAp nano-powder was synthesized from eggshells (ES) and crab shells (CS) by wet chemical precipitation method. Also, a hybrid sample was considered which is a mixture of HAp nano-powder synthesized from eggshells (25%) and crab shells (75%) (EC). The presence of phosphate, carbonate, and hydroxyl groups in the synthesized powder was confirmed through FTIR analysis. The phase composition was determined using XRD, and elemental analysis revealed a Ca/P ratio ranging from 1.5 to 1.8, confirming the HAp nature of the nano-powder, which ranged in size from 73 to 375 nm. Importantly, preliminary in vitro tests were conducted using mouse preosteoblast cell line MC3T3-E1 to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of the synthesized HAp. The results indicated excellent biocompatibility. Moreover, sample EC exhibited a significantly higher proliferation on days 3, 6, 9, and 12. EC demonstrated promising antimicrobial properties by exhibiting a significantly higher inhibitory effect against the bacteria Streptococcus mutans and Escherichia coli, and the fungi Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. Additionally, EC displayed notable antioxidant activity, with IC values of 271.543 µg/ml and 407.764 µg/ml in DPPH and HO assays, respectively. Furthermore, it showed strong anti-inflammatory properties, with a dose-dependent inhibition against protein denaturation. Given these findings, the synthesized HAp holds promise as a potential bone filler and could be beneficial for bone remodeling applications.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.