Blood Compatibility Evaluations of Fluorescent Carbon Dots

Because of their unique advantages, fluorescent carbon dots are gaining popularity in various biomedical applications. For these applications, good biosafety is a prerequisite for their use in vivo. Studies have reported the preliminary biocompatibility evaluations of fluorescent carbon dots (mainly cytotoxicity); however, to date, little information is available about their hemocompatibility, which could impede their development from laboratory to bedside. In this work, we evaluated the hemocompatibility of fluorescent carbon dots, which we prepared by hydrothermal carbonization of α-cyclodextrin. The effects of the carbon dots on the structure and function of key blood components were investigated at cellular and molecular levels. In particular, we considered the morphology and lysis of human red blood cells, the structure and conformation of the plasma protein fibrinogen, the complement activation, platelet activation, and in vitro and in vivo blood coagulation. We found that the carbon dots have obvious concentration-dependent effects on the blood components. Overall, concentrations of the fluorescent carbon dots at ≤0.1 mg/mL had few adverse effects on the blood components, but at higher doses, the carbon dots impair the structure and function of the blood components, causing morphological disruptions and lysis of red blood cells, interference in the local microenvironments of fibrinogen, activation of the complement system, and disturbances in the plasma and whole blood coagulation function in vitro. However, the carbon dots tend to activate platelets only at low concentrations. Intravenous administration of the carbon dots at doses up to 50 mg/kg did not impair the blood coagulation function. These results provide valuable information for the clinical application of fluorescent carbon dots.