Incidence, characteristics and risk factors of tigecycline-induced hypoglycaemia: a retrospective study from the real world

Abstract

Objectives: Tigecycline is widely used in clinic because of its broad spectrum of activity including activity against drug-resistance Gram-positive and -negative microorganisms. Hypoglycaemia is a rare but potentially fatal side effect during treatment with tigecycline. At present, data on tigecycline-induced hypoglycaemia are scarce, and there is a paucity of research summarizing the clinical characteristics and incidence rate of this uncommon adverse effect of tigecycline. The purpose of this study was to assess clinical characteristics and risk factors of tigecycline-associated hypoglycaemia.

Method: We performed this retrospective single-centre study of inpatients with tigecycline-induced hypoglycaemia in China between 2018 and 2024. Clinical data were achieved by review of medical records, and patients who met the inclusion criteria but did not develop hypoglycaemia were assigned as controls.

Results: We finally identified 14 patients with tigecycline-induced hypoglycaemia. The incidence rate of hypoglycaemia was 1.52% (14/922) in the study population. Tigecycline-induced hypoglycaemia can happen in patients with or without diabetes and develop independent of insulin or antidiabetic drugs. For patients of tigecycline-related hypoglycaemia, intravenous dextrose was effective in the restoration of euglycemia.

Conclusions: Health professional should be aware of the potential hypoglycaemia risk and monitor blood glucose level during treatment with tigecycline. For patients developing hypoglycaemia, the blood glucose monitoring should be careful and continuous even after tigecycline withdrawal.

Figure 1.

The BG levels profile of Patient 13 before and after tigecycline treatment.

Figure 2.

The BG levels profile of Patient 14 before and after tigecycline treatment.