Determination and the pharmacokinetic study of tigecycline by fluorescence strategy with F, N codoping carbon dots as probe

Tigecycline (TIGE) plays a significant role in the management of complex and serious bacterial infection. The monitoring of TIGE content in plasma and the further application in pharmacokinetic (PK) study is important for clinical medicine, however, the facile and effective strategy is limited. Herein, a sensitive, accurate and facile method for TIGE detection was developed by fluorescence with F, N codoping carbon dots (F, N-CDs) as probe. F, N-CDs exhibited stable maximum emission fluorescence at 500 nm and large Stokes shift of 135 nm. Such property help to weaken the possible self-absorption of biological system and the spectral overlap of fluorophore. Thus, using F, N-CDs as probe, the method exhibited accuracy and similarity of the analytical performance of TIGE detection in human plasma and rat plasma. The validated method was successfully applied to the PK research of TIGE in rat after intravenous injection at three dose levels of 1 μg/g, 2 μg/g, and 4 μg/g at different time-points. The obtained PK parameters of TIGE using this method were basically consistent with current clinical practice. The findings demonstrated the application ability of F, N-CDs for PK study of TIGE ascribed to the clinical need of simple operation, accuracy and rapidity. •F, N codoping carbon dots with green emission and large Stokes shift were prepared.•The quenching effect of TIGE to F,N-CDs was inner filter effect and static quenching effect.•TIGE was effectively and accurately monitored in human and rat plasma.•The obtained PK parameters of TIGE in rat were consistent with clinical practice.