Preclinical evaluation of 4-[18F]fluoroprolines: diastereomeric effect on metabolism and uptake in mice.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diastereomeric effect on uptake and metabolic behavior of (2S,4R)-4-[18F]fluoro-L-proline (trans-[18F]FPro) and (2S,4S)-4-[18F]fluoro-L-proline (cis-[18F]FPro) in view of their potential suitability as tracers for abnormal collagen synthesis. No-carrier-added 4-[18F]fluoro-L-prolines were prepared according to the literature in about 150 min (50-60% radiochemical yield). Both compounds exhibited high in vivo stability. The tumor uptake of cis-[18F]FPro in osteosarcomas of mice was high and at 240 min postinjection reached 11.8 +/- 2.2 %ID/g compared with 7.07 +/- 1.68 %ID/g for trans-[18F]FPro. In contrat to trans-[18F]FPro, which showed fast and complete renal clearance, the cis isomer was accumulated in the pancreas, and showed hepatic clearance and renal reuptake. Speciation studies on tissue homogenates revealed protein incorporation only for cis-[18F]FPro. However, due to the relatively slow protein incorporation rate of cis-[18F]FPro, the tumor uptake of both compounds in colon carcinomas, mammary carcinomas, and osteosarcomas 1 h postinjection predominantly reflect amino acid transport.