The past several years have seen marked advances in technetium/rhenium chemistry applicable to the preparation of new 99mTc-labeled radiopharmaceuticals. This article focuses on recent developments in technetium chemistry, including the preparation of "3 + 1" complexes, the preparation and use of (99mTc[CO]3)+ complexes for labeling biomolecules, the preparation of rhenium steroid inclusion complexes, improvements in both hydrazinonicotinamide labeling chemistry and in the preformed 99mTc complex method of labeling biomolecules, and new solid-phase separation techniques that may allow the isolation of high specific-activity radiopharmaceuticals in a clinical setting.

Albright, J. W., Mease, R. C., Lambert, C., and Albright, J. F. 1999.Trypanosoma musculi:Tracking parasites and circulating lymphoid cells in host mice.Experimental Parasitology91,185–195. Two aspects of host-parasite relationships that seem worthy of more attention are: (a) the distribution of parasites among host organs in the early course of infection, and (b) the dynamics of host lymphocyte tissue localization and recirculation during the course of infection. We have employed the derivatized aminostyrylpyridinium dye, [125I] I 2P-Di-6-ASP, to provide a relatively stable tag on both a parasite,Trypanosoma musculi, and on host mouse splenocytes, enriched B and T lymphocytes, and natural killer cells. The organ distribution of the parasites, splenocytes, and lymphocytes in recipient, host mice was tracked. RadiolabeledT. musculilocalized primarily in the liver with lesser numbers in spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Per unit wet weight, the spleen accumulated parasites most efficiently. WhenT. musculiwere inoculated intraperitoneally, most of them remained in the peritoneal space and the numbers that gained access to liver, lungs, and spleen were significantly smaller than in mice inoculated intravenously. The acquisition of parasites by the spleen (and lungs) of mice with an existingT. musculiinfection was markedly inhibited. This was true also of syngeneic splenocytes and lymphocytes. In addition, lymphocytes from infected mice were significantly less likely to take residence in the spleens of normal recipient mice and were especially unlikely to localize in the spleens of infected recipients. These and other findings suggested that the inability of circulating lymphocytes to gain access to lymphoid tissues in infected mice, coupled with the poor ability of those tissues to sequester parasite antigens, could account for the known prolonged delay in the development of curative antibody response characteristic ofT. musculi-infected mice. It is likely that the marked disruption of lymphoid tissue histoarchitecture that is typical ofT. musculiinfection contributes significantly to the failure of the tissues to sequester parasites and lymphocytes. Because lymphoid tissue disruption is seen in many parasitic infections, the findings reported here may have fairly broad relevance. In any case, the procedure described here for labeling parasites and lymphocytes should be of general utility for tracking their dispositionin vivo.

We have employed a derivatized aminostyrylpyridinium dye, [125I]I2P-Di-6-ASP, to provide a relatively stable tag on mixed mouse splenocytes and purified B and T cells for the purpose of tracking the distribution of those cells among the organs of normal young (4 months) and aged (> 26 months) recipient mice. Cells from both young and aged donor spleens were studied. Special emphasis was placed on localization of donor cells in the spleens of the recipients because the majority of circulating lymphocytes localize in the spleen and the spleen is the principal organ of primary immune response. There was a profound difference in the efficiency of splenic acquisition of donor cells between young and aged recipients, a difference not found in the liver, lungs, kidneys or heart. In contrast young and old donor lymphocytes lodged equally well in the spleens of recipients of the same age. It was clear that the competence of the splenic microenvironment to serve as a lodging site for circulating lymphocytes deteriorated with age. Such a change could contribute significantly to the deficient immune response of aged subjects. We suggest that aging results in significant change in the splenic extracellular matrix to serve as an adhesive substratum for lymphocytes. Our data point to a need for detailed studies on age-related changes in components of the extracellular matrix within lymphoid tissues. The novel compound which we employed for cell labeling is both radioactive and fluorescent and should be quite suitable for such studies.

Preorganization of the coordinating groups within a chelating agent increases the stability of its metal-ligand complexes. For example, 1,2-diaminocyclo-hexanetetraacetic acid (CDTA) forms metal complexes with stability constants 1-3 orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding complexes of EDTA. Incorporation of a cyclohexyl group into a macrocyclic ligand produces a similar effect; stability constants of Cu complexes of tetrathiocyclotetradecanes are increased by 1.5 orders of magnitude by incorporating one cyclohexyl group into the macrocyclic ring and 3 orders of magnitude by incorporating two cyclohexyl moieties. In this study, we have synthesized cycohexyl DOTA (C-DOTA) in which the cyclohexyl group is fused to two carbons of the macrocyclic ring. Alkylation of disodium ethylene ditosylamide with trans-1,2-di(bromoacetamido)cyclohexane afforded the C{sub 8}N{sub 4} macrocycle. Reduction with lithium aluminum hydride not only reduced the amide moieties to amines but also removed the tosyl protecting groups affording the cyclohexylcyclen. Cyanomethylation followed by hydrolysis gave C-DOTA in an overall yield of 9.4%. C-DOTA is expected to offer improvements in the biodistribution of radiometal immunoconjugates for radioimmunotherapy, in particular with Sc-47, Y-90, and Sm-153 that have given encouraging results using the plain DOTA ligand.

We prepared [125I131I]iodo-(aminostyryl)pyridinium dyes from tributylstannyl precursors. ASP 7a and 7b labeled leukocytes ex vivo (70–94%) using saline with or without washing plasma from cells. Viability of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) (dogs, rats) and splenic lymphocytes (rats) labeled with 7a and 7b (71–82%) was unchanged after labeling (⩾88%). Canine 7b-leukocytes showed higher uptake in inflammatory lesions than did 111In-oxine leukocytes. At 3 h, aspirates contained more radioiodine than 111In (1.65:1 to 22:1) and radioiodine was cell bound. ROI measurements (3 h) gave abscess to contralateral knee ratios of 12.3 and 10.6 for 131I-7b vs. 4.8 and 2.3 for 111In-oxine.

The nitrosyl complexes pentachloronitrosylosmate(II), [OsCl5(NO)]2-, and hydroxytetranitronitrosylosmate(II), [Os(OH)(NO2)4(NO)]2-, were evaluated as parent species for use on the 191Os-191mIr generator in an attempt to increase the 191mIr yield of the generator by providing a direct route to a chemically stable 191mIr daughter. The uptake of the 191Os-labeled complexes by the inorganic ion-exchangers ZrO2, SnO2, PbS, MnO2 and Al2O3 and the organic resin AG MP-1 was measured and prototype generators were prepared using those exchangers that demonstrated greater than 90% uptake of the 191Os-labeled complexes. The 191mIr(III)-nitrosyl complexes produced subsequent to beta- decay of the 191Os-nitrosyl parent complexes were found to undergo secondary chemical reactions to form nitro (NO2-) complexes that were tightly retained on the ion exchanger limiting 191mIr yield to less than 5%.