67Ga in transferrin-unbound form is taken up by inflamed liver of mouse treated with CCl4.

In order to investigate whether or not transferrin is involved in the uptake of 67Ga by inflamed liver (acute inflammatory tissues) the uptake of 67Ga by the liver of mice treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was studied. The serum GPT value reached its maximum on the 1st day after the CCl4 treatment. The uptake of 67Ga by the liver also reached its maximum on the 1st day after the CCl4 treatment and the amount uptaken into inflamed liver was about 6 times that uptaken into normal liver. On the other hand, the uptake of 125I-transferrin into inflamed liver on the 1st day after CCl4 treatment was only about 1.6 times that into normal liver. Moreover, cold Fe3+ decreased the uptake of 67Ga by normal liver but increased the uptake of 67Ga by inflamed liver. These results show that transferrin plays an important role in the uptake of 67Ga by normal liver but not by inflamed liver, i.e. 67Ga in the transferrin-unbound form is preferentially taken up by inflamed liver.