Zhang Z, Lyster D M, Webb G A, Orvig C
Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Int J Rad Appl Instrum B. 1992 Apr;19(3):327-35. doi: 10.1016/0883-2897(92)90118-i.
A series of highly lipophilic complexes of 1-aryl-3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyridinones with gallium(III)-67 has been evaluated in vitro and in vivo as potential radiopharmaceuticals. The pyridinones have different substituents at the para-position of the phenyl ring: R = H, CH3, OCH3 and NO2. Biodistribution studies of 67Ga complexes have been carried out in rabbits, mice, rats and a dog. High heart uptake of the radionuclide has been shown in rabbits and the dog. The different biodistribution patterns in mice and rats indicate that there is a species difference in the biodistribution of these complexes. Rabbits and the dog show rapid heart uptake and blood clearance. The speciation of the Ga3+ ion in vivo is simulated in vitro with a simple blood plasma model based on the available thermodynamic data.