Synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel 99mTc nitrido radiopharmaceutical with deoxyglucose dithiocarbamate,showing tumor uptake

The deoxyglucose dithiocarbamate (DGDTC) was synthesized and radiolabelled with [^99mTcN]²⁺ intermediate to form the ^99mTcN–DGDTC complex. The radiochemical purity of the ^99mTcN–DGDTC complex was over 90%, as measured by TLC and by HPLC, without any notable decomposition at room temperature over a period of 6 h. The partition coefficient and electrophoresis results indicated that this complex was hydrophilic and neutral. The biodistribution of ^99mTcN–DGDTC in mice bearing S 180 tumor showed that the complex accumulated in the tumor with high uptake and good retention. The tumor/blood and tumor/muscle ratios increased with time and reached 2.32 and 1.68 at 4 h post-injection, suggesting it would be a promising candidate for tumor imaging.