Introduction 99mTc-Teboroxime ([99mTcCl(CDO)(CDOH)2BMe]) is a member of the BATO (boronic acid adducts of technetium dioximes) class of 99mTc(III) complexes. This study sought to explore the impact of co-ligands on solution stability, heart uptake and myocardial retention of [99mTc(L)(CDO)(CDOH)2BMe] (99mTc-Teboroxime: L = Cl; 99mTc-Teboroxime(F): L = F; 99mTc-Teboroxime(SCN): L = SCN; and 99mTc-Teboroxime(N3): L = N3). Methods Radiotracers 99mTc-Teboroxime(L) (L = F, SCN and N3) were prepared by reacting 99mTc-Teboroxime with NaF, NaSCN and NaN3, respectively. Biodistribution and imaging studies were carried out in Sprague-Dawley rats. Image quantification was performed to compare their heart retention and liver clearance kinetics. Results Complexes 99mTc-Teboroxime(L) (L = F, SCN and N3) were prepared in high yield with high radiochemical purity. All new radiotracers were stable for >6 h in the kit matrix. In its HPLC chromatogram, 99mTc-Teboroxime showed one peak at ~15.5 min, which was shorter than that of 99mTc-Teboroxime(F) (~16.4 min). There were two peaks for 99mTc-Teboroxime(SCN) at 16.5 and 18.3 min. 99mTc-Teboroxime(N3) appeared as a single peak at 18.4 min. Their heart retention and liver clearance curves were best fitted to the bi-exponential decay function. The half-times of fast/slow components were 1.6 ± 0.4/60.7±8.9 min for 99mTc-Teboroxime, 0.8±0.2/101.7±20.7 min for 99mTc-Teboroxime(F), 1.2±0.3/84.8±16.6 min for 99mTc-Teboroxime(SCN), and 2.9±0.9/51.6±5.0 min for 99mTc-Teboroxime(N3). The 2-min heart uptake followed the order of 99mTc-Teboroxime (3.00±0.37%ID/g) > 99mTc-Teboroxime(N3) (2.66±0.01 %ID/g) ≈ 99mTc-Sestamibi (2.55±0.46 %ID/g) > 99mTcN-MPO (2.38±0.15 %ID/g). 99mTc-Teboroxime remains the best in first-pass extraction. The best image acquisition window is 0 – 5 min for 99mTc-Teboroximine and 0 – 15 min for 99mTc-Teboroximine(N3). Conclusion Co-ligands had significant impact on the heart uptake and myocardial retention of complexes [99mTc(L)(CDO)(CDOH)2BMe] (L = Cl, F, SCN and N3). Future studies should be directed towards minimizing the liver uptake and radioactivity accumulation in the blood vessels while maintaining their high heart uptake.

This study sought to explore the impact of boronate groups on the heart uptake and myocardial retention of novel (99m)Tc(III) complexes [(99m)TcCl(CDO)(CDOH)2B-R] ((99m)Tc-ISboroxime: R = isoxazol-4-yl (IS); (99m)Tc-MPboroxime: R = N-methylpyridinium (MP); (99m)Tc-PAboroxime: R = pyrazol-3-yl (PA); (99m)Tc-PYboroxime: R = pyridin-3-yl (PY); and (99m)Tc-5Uboroxime: R = uracil-5-yl (5U)). All five new (99m)Tc(III) radiotracers were prepared in high yield and high radiochemical purity (RCP = 90-98%), and they remained stable in the kit mixture for >6 h. Biodistribution and imaging (planar and SPECT) studies were carried out using Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Planar image quantification was performed to compare their myocardial retention and liver clearance kinetics. It was found that their heart retention and liver clearance curves were best fitted to the biexponential decay function. The initial heart uptake at 0-1 min after injection followed the general ranking order of (99m)Tc-ISboroxime (4.98 ± 1.05%ID) ∼ (99m)Tc-Teboroxime (4.56 ± 0.91%ID) ∼ (99m)Tc-PAboroxime (4.03 ± 1.23%ID) ∼ (99m)Tc-PYboroxime (4.07 ± 0.80%ID) > (99m)Tc-5Uboroxime (3.24 ± 0.67%ID) > (99m)Tc-MPboroxime (2.53 ± 0.65%ID). The fast-phase myocardial retention time followed the general order of (99m)Tc-PAboroxime (3.21 ± 0.29 min) > (99m)Tc-Teboroxime (1.63 ± 0.40 min) ∼ (99m)Tc-PYboroxime (1.57 ± 0.29 min) ∼ (99m)Tc-ISboroxime (1.55 ± 0.32 min) > (99m)Tc-MPboroxime (0.68 ± 0.16 min) > (99m)Tc-5Uboroxime (0.33 ± 0.11 min). (99m)Tc-PAboroxime (3.05 ± 1.10%ID/g) and (99m)Tc-ISboroxime (3.75 ± 0.68%ID/g) had the 2 min initial heart uptake very close to that of (99m)Tc-Teboroxime (3.30 ± 0.50%ID/g). However, the myocardial retention time of (99m)Tc-PAboroxime was significantly longer than that of (99m)Tc-ISboroxime and (99m)Tc-Teboroxime. Even though the best time window is 0-5 min for SPECT image acquisition, high quality SPECT images could be obtained during the first 30 min postinjection of (99m)Tc-PAboroxime in SD rats. This statement was supported by the SPECT/CT studies in normal pigs. On the basis of results from this study, it was concluded that boronate groups had significant impact on the heart uptake, myocardial retention, and liver clearance kinetics of (99m)Tc(III) complexes [(99m)TcCl(CDO)(CDOH)2B-R]. The combination of high initial heart uptake with longer myocardial retention makes it possible to image the heart with (99m)Tc-PAboroxime during the first 30 min using both standard and specialized cardiac SPECT cameras.

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The objective of this study was to develop a kit formulation for 99mTcN-MPO to support its clinical evaluations as a SPECT radiotracer. Radiolabeling studies were performed using three different formulations (two-vial formulation and single-vial formulations with/without SnCl2) to explore the factors influencing radiochemical purity (RCP) of 99mTcN-MPO. We found that the most important factor affecting the RCP of 99mTcN-MPO was the purity of PNP5. 99mTcN-MPO was prepared >98% RCP (n = 20) using the two-vial formulation. For single-vial formulations with/without SnCl2, β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) is particularly useful as a stabilizer for PNP5. The RCP of 99mTcN-MPO was 95 – 98% using β-CD, but its RCP was only 90 – 93% with γ-CD. It seems that PNP5 fits better into the inner cavity of β-CD, which forms more stable inclusion complex than γ-CD in the single-vial formulations. The results from biodistribution and imaging studies in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats clearly demonstrated biological equivalence of three different formulations. SPECT data suggested that high quality images could be obtained at 0 – 30 min post-injection without significant interference from the liver radioactivity. Considering the ease for 99mTc-labeling and high RCP of 99mTcN-MPO, the non-SnCl2 single-vial formulation is an attractive choice for future clinical studies.