[Radiolabeling and biodistribution of 62Cu-dithiocarbamate--an application for the new 62Zn/62Cu generator].

The newly developed 62Zn/62Cu generator system has made available the production of the short-lived 62Cu (T1/2 = 9.8 min) positron radionuclide, eluted as 62Cu-glycine. In the search for 62Cu labeled radiopharmaceuticals for positron CT (PET) brain diagnostic studies, two ligands N,N-diethyl- and N,N-dimethyl-dithiocarbamic acid (DDC and DmDC) were selected, based on their Cu chelating abilities and the neutral lipophilic character of their copper chelates. In the present work, an in vitro study with non-radioactive Cu-glycine showed that both ligands easily formed the stable, neutral Cu-DDC and Cu-DmDC chelates (1:2 metal-ligand complexes) based on the ligand exchange reaction. Then the 62Zn/62Cu generator eluate, the 62Cu-glycine was used for the radiolabeling of DDC and DmDC. The following HPLC analysis revealed that the ligand exchange reaction proceeded rapidly; the radiochemical purities of 62Cu-DDC and 62Cu-DmDC were extremely high (non-detectable 62Cu-glycine) and both chelates were more lipophilic than 62Cu-glycine. The mouse biodistribution of both radiolabeled compounds, 62Cu-DDC and 62Cu-DmDC indicated a brain accumulation of 2.8 and 5.3 times higher than 62Cu-glycine, 15 min post injection, respectively. The brain accumulation observed with both 62Cu-DDC and 62Cu-DmDC might be due to their stable, neutral and lipophylic character; the latter enhanced by the presence of the methylated side chains. The gathered results indicated the applicability of dithiocarbamic acid derivatives in the production of new 62Cu-labeled compounds using the 62Zn/62Cu generator system based on the ligand exchange reaction with 62Cu-glycine eluate. Further studies with Cu-dithiocarbamic acid derivatives for development of new generator-produced 62Cu positron radiopharmaceuticals can be recalled.