Convenient preparation of /sup 11/C-methyltriphenylphosphonium iodide (MTP) for PET imaging of regional myocardial blood flow

The purpose of this study was to synthesize and evaluate /sup 11/C-MTP for use as a potential regional myocardial perfusion agent in positron emission tomography. The synthesis of /sup 11/C-MTP was accomplished by reacting triphenylphosphine with /sup 11/C- methyliodide. Triphenylphosphine was dissolved in benzene and cooled to O0C in a septum sealed reaction vessel. /sup 11/C-methyliodide was synthesized from /sup 11/C-carbon dioxide, and bubbled through the reaction vessel in a stream of carrier nitrogen gas. When trapping of the /sup 11/C- methyliodide was complete, the vessel was placed in a block heater at 1400C for 5 minutes. The reaction mixture was cooled and evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure. The residue was dissolved in absolute ethanol and then re-evaporated to dryness. The final product was dissolved in saline and passed through a 0.2 micron filter which removed excess unreacted tiphenylphosphine. The specific activity of the /sup 11/C-MTP was determined to be at least 10 mCi/μmole using UV spectroscopy. PET imaging was performed on anesthetized dogs (normal and surgically infarcted hearts) and monkeys which were injected i.v. with a solution of 20 mCi of /sup 11/C-MTP. Scans of the heart were acquired using the authors' neuro ECAT. The myocardium was clearly visualized in both the dog and monkey. In dogs with myocardial infarctions, images showed an absence of radiotracer in regions corresponding to the infarcted zone. These studies indicate that /sup 11/C-MTP can be conveniently prepared to provide tomographic imaging of the heart using PET. Moreover, the uptake of /sup 11/C-MTP in the heart may be useful in determining regional myocardial blood flow