Rapid, inexpensive quality control of fluorine-18 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose preparations using the hexokinase reaction in vitro.

A rapid enzymatic method for determining the purity of 2FDG preparations has been devised. A small aliquot of the preparation is incubated with a hexokinase/adenosine triphosphate/Mg+2 mixture and passed through a Dowex 1 ion-exchange column, which retains the 2FDG-6-phosphate. Another aliquot, without prior incubation, is passed through an identical column and the 2FDG radioactivity is found in the eluant. The criteria for purity are quantitative retention of the 2FDG-6-phosphate on the column and no retention of 2FDG. Comparison of the HK method with thin layer and high performance liquid chromatography assays indicate that the HK method can serve as a rapid, simple and inexpensive alternative to these other methods. It can be used in a routine quality control program and may be easily adaptable to automated 2FDG synthetic methods.