Silver nanoparticles ( AgNP) , the metallic silver par-ticles with the diameter of 1 ~100 nm are now widely used in many fields. Many researches show that the smaller size of Ag-NP, the stronger toxicity it shows. Generally speaking, AgNP with 20 nm shows strongest toxicity. After entering the body, they are distributed in different organs in the body, and the dis-tribution in the kidney shows a certain gender difference. They also produce some toxic effects after entering body organs. AgNP often exhibit dose effect on the toxicity in vitro cells,while in vivo experiments, their toxic effects change with the different objects and ways of acting. In addition, AgNP can produce toxic effects on reproduction, and may cause parental reproductive activity to deteriorate, and pass the toxic effects to offspring through the placenta to exert a negative influence on the growth and develop-ment of the offspring. The toxicity mechanisms of AgNP are oxi-dative stress injury caused by producing free radicals;metabolic disorders caused by reducing of drug metabolic enzyme activity;and also related gene expression defects and certain molecules, such as transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2(Nrf2) prote-ase caused by abnormal expression. In short, AgNP can be toxic to organisms, and we must evaluate their biological safety when we use it, to minimize or even avoid the danger it brings about.

OBJECTIVE:To establish the method for content determination of cantharidin in Lytta caraganae,and to use the result as the extract screening evidence of L. caraganae source material. METHODS:Ultrasonic extraction method was used to extract cantharidin from L. caraganae using acetone as solvent. HPLC method was adopted to determine the content of cantharidin. The determination was performed on C18column with mobile phase consisted of methanol-water(23:77)at flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set 230 nm,the column temperature was set at 35 ℃,and sample size was 10 μL. The content of cantharidin in L. caraganae was determined and compared with the results of content determination by the method stated in Chinese Pharmacopeia(using chloroform as extraction solvent). RESULTS:The liner range of cantharidin were 0.2-1.0 mg/mL (r=0.998 8)with average methodology recovery rates of 101.1%(RSD=1.7%,n=6). The average content of cantharidin in L. caraganae was 0.932%(n=3),while the content of cantharidin was 0.793%(n=3)determined by the method stated in Chinese Pharmacopeia. Both were higher than the requirement of Chinese Pharmacopeia that the content of cantharidin in scource material of cantharidin was higher than 0.35%. CONCLUSIONS:Established method is accurate and reliable for the content determination cantharidin in L. caraganae. The content of cantharidin is up to the standard of Chinese Pharmacopeia,and can be used as source material for exacting cantharidin.

Objective To improve the quality of clinical biochemistry laboratory by quality indicators of pre-analytical,analytical,post-analytical phase and the whole process.Methods Analytical Phase:The Sigma values of items were calculated,applying the equation Sigma =(TEa％-Bias％)/CV％.Total allowable error (TEa) is from analyticalal specification defined in WS/T403-2012 of China,Bias％ is from the evaluation results of National Center for Clinical Laboratory (NCCL) trueness verification PT series and CV％ is from internal quality control data during the last 6 months in our lab.Normalized Sigma metrics plot was made to evaluate the analysis performance and the quality control strategies were designed accordingly.The quality goal indexes (QGI) were also calculated to propose improvement measures for items below 6 Sigma.Quality indicators of pre-,post-analytical and whole analytical phase,such as quality of specimen,critical value notification,critical value notification in time,TAT of hs-cTnT,TAT of emergency biochemical items,rewrite of laboratory reports and unacceptable performance in EQA-PT were measured in Sigma metrics too.The Sigma metrics changes before and after taking improvement measures were compared to conform the effectiveness.Results The average Sigma value of 17 biochemical tests was 5.29,of which 8 items (UA,K,ALP,CK,AMY,AST,TG,Na) achieved excellent to world class level (≥ 5 Sigma),6 items (LDH,Cre,TC,ALT,Mg,Glu) achieved marginal to good level (5 ＞ Sigma ≥ 3),BUN performed poorly (3 ＞ Sigma ≥ 2),Ca,TP performed unacceptably (Sigma ＜ 2) with serious quality defects.The Sigma values of unacceptable specimen,critical value notification,critical value notification in time,unacceptable turn around time (TAT) of hs-cTnT,unacceptable turn around time (TAT) of emergency biochemical items,rewrite of laboratory reports,unacceptable performance in EQA-PT were 4.17,3.60,2.75,1.72,3.27,4.52,3.33 respectively,rising to 4.30,4.30,2.90,2.45,3.75,4.80,3.60 accordingly after improvement.Conclusions Sigma metrics is potentially an ideal approach for clinical biochemistry laboratories management,which is helpful to find out problems,put forward improvement measures,and confirm the effectiveness,so as to achieve the purpose of continuous quality improvement.

Objective:To assess the safety and feasibility of selectively preserving the first branch of the right gastro-omental artery using bidirectional dissection in laparoscopic pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (LPPG).Methods:In this retrospective analysis, we studied preoperative, intraoperative, postoperative, and follow-up data of 30 patients with early gastric cancer treated in the Department of Gastric Cancer in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital (28 patients), Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery in Jiaxing Second Hospital (one patient) and Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery in Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital (one patient) who had undergone selective preservation of the first branch of the right gastro-omental artery during LPPG. The main variables studied were as follows: (1) intraoperative preservation of the first branch of the right gastro-omental artery; (2) the overall surgical situation; and (3) postoperative small bowel follow-through and endoscopy findings.Results:LPPG with selective preservation of the right gastro-omental artery vascular branch was achieved in all 30 of the study patients. The mean operation time was (244.3±29.3) minutes and the median intraoperative blood loss 50 (20–200) mL. The median tumor diameter was 1.2 (0.5–3.6) cm and an average of 32.3±11.6 lymph nodes were dissected. The overall median number of positive lymph nodes was 0 (0–6), and of No. 6 lymph nodes 5.1±1.5. Postoperative feeding resumed at an average of 5.2±0.5 days and the postoperative hospital stay averaged 8.4±3.4 days. Pathological stages were as follows: T1a (14 cases), T1b (10 cases), and T2 (6 cases). Small bowel follow-through imaging showed good results in 28 patients 5 days post-surgery, the remaining two exhibiting good results 9 days post-surgery. There were no instances of delayed gastric emptying, and only one patient (3.3%) developed intra-abdominal infection (resolved with conservative treatment).Conclusion:Selective preservation of the right gastro-omental artery during laparoscopic early gastric cancer surgery is a safe and feasible procedure for treating early mid-gastric body cancer with pyloric preservation.

Objective:To assess the safety and feasibility of selectively preserving the first branch of the right gastro-omental artery using bidirectional dissection in laparoscopic pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (LPPG).Methods:In this retrospective analysis, we studied preoperative, intraoperative, postoperative, and follow-up data of 30 patients with early gastric cancer treated in the Department of Gastric Cancer in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital (28 patients), Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery in Jiaxing Second Hospital (one patient) and Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery in Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital (one patient) who had undergone selective preservation of the first branch of the right gastro-omental artery during LPPG. The main variables studied were as follows: (1) intraoperative preservation of the first branch of the right gastro-omental artery; (2) the overall surgical situation; and (3) postoperative small bowel follow-through and endoscopy findings.Results:LPPG with selective preservation of the right gastro-omental artery vascular branch was achieved in all 30 of the study patients. The mean operation time was (244.3±29.3) minutes and the median intraoperative blood loss 50 (20–200) mL. The median tumor diameter was 1.2 (0.5–3.6) cm and an average of 32.3±11.6 lymph nodes were dissected. The overall median number of positive lymph nodes was 0 (0–6), and of No. 6 lymph nodes 5.1±1.5. Postoperative feeding resumed at an average of 5.2±0.5 days and the postoperative hospital stay averaged 8.4±3.4 days. Pathological stages were as follows: T1a (14 cases), T1b (10 cases), and T2 (6 cases). Small bowel follow-through imaging showed good results in 28 patients 5 days post-surgery, the remaining two exhibiting good results 9 days post-surgery. There were no instances of delayed gastric emptying, and only one patient (3.3%) developed intra-abdominal infection (resolved with conservative treatment).Conclusion:Selective preservation of the right gastro-omental artery during laparoscopic early gastric cancer surgery is a safe and feasible procedure for treating early mid-gastric body cancer with pyloric preservation.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of N~6-methyladenosine(m~6A) catalytic enzymes(methyltransferases and demethylases) in cadmium-induced oxidative damage in human renal epithelial cells(HK-2 cells), and to analyze the correlation between nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2(NRF2) and m~6A catalytic enzymes. METHODS: i) HK-2 cells in logarithmic growth phase were randomly divided into control group and 6 cadmium sulfate treatment groups, then treated with 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 μmol/L cadmium sulfate solution for 24 hours. The cell survival rates were detected by CCK-8 assay, and the appropriate doses of cadmium sulfate were selected for subsequent experiments. ii) HK-2 cells in logarithmic growth phase were randomly divided into control group and low-, medium-, and high-dose groups, and treated with 0, 4, 8, and 16 μmol/L cadmium sulfate solution respectively for 24 hours. Subsequently, the levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS) were detected by fluorescence probe. The mRNA expression of NRF2, the m~6A methyltransferases such as methyltransferase like proteins(METTL) 3, METTL14, METTL16 and the m~6A demethylases such as fat mass and obesity associated protein(FTO), AlkB family of nonheme Fe(Ⅱ)/α-ketoglutarate(α-KG)-dependent dioxygenases 5(ALKBH5) were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: i) The survival rate of HK-2 cells was more than 60.00% and lower than that of the control group(P<0.05) after the cells were stimulated with 16 μmol/L of cadmium sulfate. Therefore, 4, 8 and 16 μmol/L of cadmium sulfate were selected as the stimulation concentrations in the follow-up experiments. ii) The relative expression of NRF2, METTL3, METTL14 and METTL16 in HK-2 cells in low-dose group increased(all P<0.05), while the levels of ROS and the relative mRNA expression of NRF2, METTL3, METTL14, METTL16 and FTO in HK-2 cells in medium and high-dose groups increased(all P<0.05) when compared with the control group. There was no significant difference in the expression of ALKBH5 mRNA among these 4 groups(P>0.05). In the correlation analysis, NRF2 mRNA expression was positively correlated with the mRNA expression of METTL3 and METTL16 [Pearson correlation coefficient(r) = 0.61 and 0.66, respectively, all P<0.05]. There was no correlation between NRF2 mRNA expression and METTL14, FTO and ALKBH5(r=0.53, 0.48, and 0.01 respectively, all P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Cadmium sulfate may increase intracellular ROS level, up-regulate NRF2 expression and activate NRF2 signaling pathway as well as enhance the expression of METTL3 and METTL16 in HK-2 cells, thus increasing intracellular oxidative damage and decreasing the cell survival rate.