Herein, new ligands for the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), based on a benzovesamicol scaffold, are presented. VAChT is acknowledged as a marker for cholinergic neurons and a positron emission tomography tracer for VAChT could serve as a tool for quantitative analysis of cholinergic neuronal density. With an easily accessible triflate precursor, aminocarbonylations were utilized to evaluate the chemical space around the C5 position on the tetrahydronaphthol ring. Synthesized ligands were evaluated for their affinity and selectivity for VAChT. Small, preferably aromatic, N-substituents proved to be more potent than larger substituents. Of the fifteen compounds synthesized, benzyl derivatives (+/-)-7i and (+/-)-7l had the highest affinities for VAChT. Compound (+/-)-7i was chosen to investigate the importance of stereochemistry for binding to VAChT and selectivity toward the sigma(1) and sigma(2) receptors. Enantiomeric resolution gave (+/-)-7i and (-)-7i, and the eutomer showed seven times better affinity. Although racemate (+/-)-7i was initially promising, the affinity of (-)-7i for VAChT was not better than 56.7 nM which precludes further preclinical evaluation. However, the nanomolar binding together with the ready synthesis of [C-11]-(+/-)-7i shows that (-)-7i can serve as a scaffold for future optimizations to provide improved C-11-labelled VAChT PET tracers.

Parenteral iron-polysaccharide complexes are increasingly applied. The pharmacokinetics of iron sucrose have been assessed by our group using positron emission tomography (PET). A single intravenous injection of 100 mg iron as iron (III) hydroxide-polymaltose complex, labelled with a tracer in the form of ⁵²Fe/⁵⁹Fe, was similarly assessed in six patients using PET for about 8 h. Red cell utilization was followed for 4 weeks. Iron polymaltose was similarly distributed to the liver, spleen and bone marrow. However, a larger proportion of this complex was rapidly distributed to the bone marrow. The shorter equilibration phase for the liver, about 25 min, indicates the minimal role of the liver for direct distribution. Splenic uptake also reflected the reticuloendothelial handling of this complex. Red cell utilization ranged from 61% to 99%. Despite the relatively higher uptake by the bone marrow, there was no saturation of marrow transport systems at this dose level. In conclusion, high red cell utilization of iron polymaltose occurred in anaemic patients. The major portion of the injected dose was rapidly distributed to the bone marrow. In addition, the reticuloendothelial uptake of this complex may reflect the safety of polysaccharide complexes. Non-saturation of transport systems to the bone marrow indicated the presence of a large interstitial transport pool, which might possibly be transferrin.

Introduction: The enzyme beta-secretase 1 (BACE-1) is associated with the catalytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) which leads to the production of amyloid-p, an amyloidogenic peptide that forms insoluble fibrils and is linked to neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease (AD). A PET-radioligand for the quantification of BACE-1 would be useful for the understanding of AD. In this report, we describe the synthesis and carbon-11 radiolabeling of a potent hydroxyethylamine BACE-1 enzyme inhibitor (BSI-IV) and its evaluation in vitro and in vivo. Methods: (11)[C]-N-1-((2S,3R)-4-(cyclopropylamino)-3-hydroxy-1-phenylbutan-2-y1)-5-(N-methylmethylsulfonamido)-N-3-((R)-1-phenylethyl)isophthalamide, a p-secretase inhibitor, denoted here as [C-11]BSIIV was synthesized through a palladium-mediated aminocarbonylation with an aryl halide precursor (I or Br) and [C-11]CO. The effect of different palladium/ligand-complexes on radiochemical yield in the carbonylative reaction was investigated. The binding of the labeled compound to BACE-1 enzyme was studied in vitro by frozen section autoradiography from brains of healthy rats. Dynamic small animal PET-CT studies and ex vivo biodistribution were performed in male rats. Results: The halide precursors were synthesized in six steps starting from methyl-3-nitrobenzoate with an overall yield of 21-26%. [C-11]BSI-IV was obtained in 29 +/- 12% decay corrected radiochemical yield (n = 12) with a specific activity of 790 +/- 155 GBq/umol at the end of synthesis with a radiochemical purity of >99%. The predinical studies showed that [C-11]BSI-IV has a rapid metabolism in rat with excretion to the small intestines. Conclusion: [C-11]BSI-IV was obtained in sufficient amount and purity to enable predinical investigation. The predinical studies showed low specific binding in vitro and fast clearance in vivo and a low uptake in the brain. These findings suggests that [C-11]BSI-IV has limited use as a PET-ligand for the study of BACE-1 or AD.

Herein we describe the development of new methodologyfocusing on ¹¹C-labelling of sulfonyl carbamates in a multicomponentreaction comprising a sulfonyl azide, an alkyl alcohol and [¹¹C]CO. Anumber of 11C-labelled sulfonyl carbamates were synthesised andisolated, and the developed methodology was then applied in thepreparation of a biologically active molecule. The target compoundwas obtained in 18±8% isolated radiochemical yield and wasevaluated for binding properties in a tumor cell assay, as well asundergoing in vivo biodistribution and imaging studies. Thisrepresents the first successful radiolabelling of C21, a non-peptideangiotensin II receptor subtype 2 agonist currently in clinical trials.