Biodistribution of N-alkyl and N-fluoroalkyl derivatives of spiroperidol; radiopharmaceuticals for PET studies of dopamine receptors.

There is great interest in the application of positron labeled ligands to map the dopamine receptor in vivo. A series of fluorine-18-labeled N-alkyl and N-fluoroalkyl spiroperidol (SP) derivatives N-methyl[18F]SP; N-ethyl[18F]SP; N-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)SP; N-propyl[18F]fluoropropyl) SP; N-(3-fluoropropyl) [18F]SP; N-(2-[18F]fluoropropyl)SP; N-(2-[18F]fluorobutyl)SP; N-(2-[18F]fluoropentyl)SP; and N-(2-[18F]fluorohexyl)SP were synthesized. The lipophilicity of these ligands (log octanol/water partition coefficient) varies from 2.67 to 5.56 and the initial brain uptake in rats, measured at 2 min, was greatest with the methyl, ethyl, propyl, fluoroethyl, and fluoropropyl derivatives. The highest striatum/cerebellum values 1 h after administration were obtained with the N-methyl, N-propyl, and N-3-fluoropropyl derivatives, while that of N-2-fluoroethyl showed the greatest uptake of total activity in the brain at this time. The uptake of all these ligands in the striatum could be blocked by cold SP showing the striatal uptake to be by the dopamine receptors.