Long-Wavelength Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe for the Early Diagnosis of Diabetes

Diabetes is a metabolic disease caused by high blood sugar. Patients are often suffering from high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis, which may even evolve into liver disease, kidney disease, and other diabetic complications. Dipeptide peptidase IV (DPP-IV) plays an important role in regulating blood sugar levels and is one of the targets for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. Here, a long-wavelength ratiometric fluorescent probe DCDHFNH2-dpp4 for detecting DPP-IV was designed and synthesized. DCDHFNH2-dpp4 was used to detect DPP-IV in healthy, tumor-bearing, and diabetic mice, and only diabetic mice showed strong fluorescence signals. In organ imaging, it is found that DPP-IV is relatively enriched in the liver of diabetic mice. In addition, probe DCDHFNH2-dpp4 also exhibited a significant ratiometric fluorescence signal in the serum of diabetic mice. Therefore, the fluorescent probe DCDHFNH2-dpp4 has shown outstanding potential in the early diagnosis of diabetes, and DCDHFNH2-dpp4 is hopeful to be applied to actual clinical medicine.