Development of 99mTc labelled somatostatin analogues with high affinity for somatostatin receptors

A recent development in oncology involves the use of metabolically stabilized peptide hormone analogues labelled with metallic radionuclides for the diagnosis or therapy of malignant disease. This approach was successfully applied for the first time in the visualization of somatostatin positive tumours and their metastases with 111In DTPA-octreotide. In an effort to obtain a 99mTc somatostatin receptor affine radioligand we describe herein the synthesis, radiochemistry and preliminary biological evaluation of two novel 99mTc labelled somatostatin analogues, N4-TOC and N4-RC-160. In these compounds a tetraamine bifunctional unit was covalently attached to the N-terminal (D)Phe1 of the peptide chain using Boc-protection strategies. The peptide conjugates were purified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and characterized by UV/Vis and ES-MS spectroscopies. As revealed by HPLC, 99mTc labelling was quantitative under mild conditions, leading to a single 99mTc species in high specific activities. Affinity of 99mTc N4-TOC for the somatostatin receptor, as determined by in vitro binding assays in rat brain cortex membranes, was found unaffected by the presence of the bulky metal chelate. The binding properties of 99mTc N4-RC-160 could not be determined by this assay due to an extremely high non-specific binding of this radioligand, and will be shortly investigated by other methods. Tissue distribution in healthy mice revealed that 99mTc N4-TOC is clearing mainly through the kidneys and the urinary tract whereas 99mTc N4-RC-160 shows a high accumulation in the liver as a result of its lipophilicity. Analysis of urine samples by HPLC showed that 99mTc N4-TOC is excreted integer from the body of mice, while 99mTc N4-RC-160 is totally transformed to an unidentified hydrophilic metabolite in vivo. The location of this metabolism is currently investigated. In vivo blocking experiments using animals pre-treated with 50 μg octreotide prior to the injection of the radioligand demonstrated that accumulation of the radioactivity in somatostatin receptor rich organs like the pancreas and adrenals, is in vivo specific and mediated by the somatostatin receptor. (author)