Summary: Preparations of d,/-and meso-hexamethyl propyleneamine oxime (HM-PAO) labeled with techne tium-99m were added to rat brain homogenates diluted with phosphate buffer (l: 10). The conversion of d, / HM-PAO to hydrophilic forms took place with an initial rate constant of 0.12 min -1. Incubation of the brain ho mogenate with 2% diethyl maleate for 5 h decreased the homogenate's measured glutathione (GSH) concentration from 160 to 16 f.LM and decreased the conversion rate to 0.012 min -]. Buffered aqueous solutions of glutathione rapidly converted the HM-PAO tracers to hydrophilic forms having the same chromatographic characteristics as found in the brain homogenates. The rate constant for the conversion reaction of d,l-HM-PAO in GSH aqueous solution was 208 and 317 LlmoIlmin in two different assay systems and for meso-HM-PAO the values were 14.7 and 23.2 LlmoIlmin, respectively. Rat brain has a GSH con centration of about 2.3 mM and the conversion of the d,l-HM-PAO due to GSH alone should proceed with a Over the last decade, several brain imaging ra diopharmaceuticals with sufficiently long brain res idence times to permit routine imaging by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have been developed. These have included e2 3 I]_ labeled p-iodo-N -isopropylamphetamine (IMP) (Winchell et aI., 1980) and N ,N-dimethyl-N'(2-hydroxy-5-iodo-3-methylbenzyl)-1 ,3-propanediamine (HIPDM) (Tramposch et aI., 1983), eOITl] diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) (Wyth et aI., 1983)