Background One of the major threats to human health is malignancy. Treatment regimens usually followed by either chemo or radiotherapy have a wide range of collateral unwanted side effects. Scientists seek alternatives with less or no adverse consequences. Nutraceuticals possess disease-modifying implications in medicine related to Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular, Parkinson’s diseases and malignancy. Apricot oil extract is one such nutraceutical. Its active component is amygdalin, known also as vitamin B.17 or laetrile. It is found in a wide range of vegetable species. Amygdalin is found in high concentration in the kernels of rosaceous fruits such as bitter nuts and apricot kernels. Amygdalin is an aromatic cyanogenic component with a glycoside group. It has a diverse effect on different systems and organs of the body. Recently, it has shown an anticancer potential as it can decompose carcinogenic elements found in the body and kill malignant cells, so it results in cancer growth inhibition. There is a great debate related to the cyanide toxicity of amygdalin. The presented study aims to evaluate apricot oil extract’s impact on squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, HNO97, while testing its safety on non-tumorigenic oral epithelial cells. Results HNO97 cell line viability was markedly decreased. This may be induced by the upregulation of autophagy, apoptosis enhancement as well as cell cycle arrest. Cancer cell migration was also decreased. Apricot oil caused no significant inhibition of normal OEC viability in low doses. Conclusions Apricot oil extract from apricot kernel had a notably antitumorigenic impact on oral cancer cells. It may be later subjected to pre- as well as clinical trials.

The present study aimed to evaluate osteogenic potential and biocompatibility of combining biphasic calcium phosphate with zirconia nanoparticles (4Zr TCP/HA) compared to biphasic calcium phosphate (TCP/HA) for reconstruction of induced mandibular defects in dog model. TCP/HA and 4Zr TCP/HA scaffolds were prepared. Morphological, physicochemical, antibacterial, cytocompatibility characterization were tested. In vivo application was performed in 12 dogs where three critical-sized mandibular defects were created in each dog. Bone defects were randomly allocated into: control, TCP/HA, and 4Zr TCP/HA groups. Bone density and bone area percentage were evaluated at 12 weeks using cone-beam computed tomographic, histopathologic, histomorphometric examination. Bone area density was statistically increased (p < 0.001) in TCP/HA and 4Zr TCP/HA groups compared to control group both in sagittal and coronal views. Comparing TCP/HA and 4Zr TCP/HA groups, the increase in bone area density was statistically significant in coronal view (p = 0.002) and sagittal view (p = 0.05). Histopathologic sections of TCP/HA group demonstrated incomplete filling of the defect with osteoid tissue. Doping with zirconia (4Zr TCP/HA group), resulted in statistically significant increase (p < 0.001) in bone formation (as indicated by bone area percentage) and maturation (as confirmed by Masson trichrome staining) compared to TCP/HA group. The newly formed bone was mature and organized with more trabecular thickness and less trabecular space in between. Physicochemical, morphological and bactericidal properties of combining zirconia and TCP/HA were improved. Combining zirconia and TCP/HA resulted in synergistic action with effective osteoinduction, osteoconduction and osteointegration suggesting its suitability to restore damaged bone in clinical practice. Graphical Abstract