BACKGROUND: (68)Ga-triacetylfusarinine C (TAFC) and (68)Ga-ferrioxamine E (FOXE) show great potential to be used as highly sensitive and selective tracers for Aspergillus infection imaging. Here we report on a comparison of the ex vivo biodistribution and small animal imaging of (68)Ga-TAFC and (68)Ga-FOXE versus (68)Ga-colloid and (68)Ga-citrate as unspecific control in mice. METHODS: The radiochemical purity of tested (68)Ga labelled tracers was determined by RP-HPLC or ITLC-SG. Ex vivo biodistribution was studied in normal DBA/2 mice 30 min and 90 min p.i. Static and dynamic imaging were performed using µPET/CT. RESULTS: (68)Ga-TAFC and (68)Ga-FOXE showed rapid renal excretion and low blood values even 90 min p.i. (68)Ga-TAFC showed almost no retention in other organs while (68)Ga-FOXE displayed some uptake in gastrointestinal tract. (68)Ga-colloid and (68)Ga-citrate revealed significantly different ex vivo biodistribution. (68)Ga-colloid showed pronounced radioactivity retention in the liver, while (68)Ga-citrate displayed high blood values and significant retention of radioactivity in highly perfused organs. CONCLUSIONS: From the results, both (68)Ga-TAFC and (68)Ga-FOXE have excellent and significantly different in vivo behaviour compared to (68)Ga-colloid and (68)Ga-citrate. (68)Ga-TAFC in particular confirmed its great potential use as a specific tracer for Aspergillus infection imaging.

Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Palacky University Olomouc Czech Republic

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