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A characterization of ABL‐101 as a potential tracer for clinical fluorine‐19 MRI
Author(s) -
Darçot Emeline,
Colotti Roberto,
Brennan David,
Deuchar Graeme A.,
Santosh Celestine,
Heeswijk Ruud B.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nmr in biomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.278
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1099-1492
pISSN - 0952-3480
DOI - 10.1002/nbm.4212
Subject(s) - nuclear medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , medicine , chemistry , radiology , physics
The two main challenges that prevent the translation of fluorine‐19 ( 19 F) MRI for inflammation monitoring or cell tracking into clinical practice are (i) the relatively low signal‐to‐noise ratio generated by the injected perfluorocarbon (PFC), which necessitates long scan times, and (ii) the need for regulatory approval and a high biocompatibility of PFCs that are also suitable for MRI. ABL‐101, an emulsion of perfluoro(t‐butylcyclohexane), is a third‐generation PFC that is already used in clinical trials, but has not yet been used for 19 F MRI. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the performance of ABL‐101 as a 19 F MRI tracer. At magnetic field strengths of 3, 9.4 and 14.1 T, the CF 3 groups of ABL‐101 generated a large well‐separated singlet with T 2 /T 1 ratios of >0.27, >0.14 and > 0.05, respectively. All relaxation times decreased with the increase in magnetic field strength. The detection limit of ABL‐101 in a 0.25 mm 3 voxel at 3 T, 37°C and with a 3‐minute acquisition time was 7.21mM. After intravenous injection, the clearance half‐lives of the ABL‐101 19 F MR signal in mouse ( n = 3) spleen and liver were 6.85 ± 0.45 and 3.20 ± 0.35 days, respectively. These results demonstrate that ABL‐101 has 19 F MR characteristics that are similar to those of PFCs developed specifically for MRI, while it has clearance half‐lives similar to PFCs that have previously been used in large doses in non‐MRI clinical trials. Overall, ABL‐101 is thus a very promising candidate tracer for future clinical trials that use 19 F MRI for cell tracking or the monitoring of inflammation.