Stability, protein binding and clearance studies of [99mTc]DTPA. Evaluation of a commercially available dry-kit.

[99mTc]DTPA has achieved widespread use for the measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) with the single injection plasma clearance technique and for gamma-camera renography. However, the quality of the commercial preparations varies. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the quality of a commercial [99mTc]DTPA preparation (C.I.S., France) with reference to stability, protein binding and accuracy of the determined plasma clearance values as a measure of GFR. The stability of the preparations was studied by thin-layer chromatography, the in vitro protein binding by Sephadex filtration after incubation with human serum albumin and in vivo protein binding by filtration of human plasma. The accuracy of the plasma clearance values was investigated by comparison with the simultaneously measured plasma clearance of [51Cr]EDTA. There was no detectable free pertechnetate or hydrolysed reduced technetium in eight vials five and six hours after the preparation. The in vitro protein binding 10 (20), 120 and 300 min after the preparation of eight vials was 2.3% (0.8%), 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. The in vivo protein binding in 12 patients 5, 90 and 180 min after the injection was 0.3%, 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively. The plasma clearance of [99mTc]DTPA was on an average 3.7% higher than that of [51Cr]EDTA in 27 patients. It is concluded that the [99mTc]DTPA preparation is reliable for the measurement of GFR. The preparation is stable for at least six hours at room temperature. It is recommended not to use the [99mTc]DTPA until 30 min after the preparation.