title: Investigation of 6-[¹⁸F]-fluoromaltose as a novel PET tracer for imaging bacterial infection.
abstract: Despite advances in the field of nuclear medicine, the imaging of bacterial infections has remained a challenge. The existing reagents suffer from poor sensitivity and specificity. In this study we investigate the potential of a novel PET (positron emission tomography) tracer that overcomes these limitations.
  
  
  METHODS
  6-[¹⁸F]-fluoromaltose was synthesized. Its behavior in vitro was evaluated in bacterial and mammalian cultures. Detailed pharmacokinetic and biodistribution profiles for the tracer were obtained from a murine model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  6-[¹⁸F]-fluoromaltose is taken up by multiple strains of pathogenic bacteria. It is not taken up by mammalian cancer cell lines. 6-[¹⁸F]-fluoromaltose is retained in infected muscles in a murine model of bacterial myositis. It does not accumulate in inflamed tissue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have shown that 6-[¹⁸F]-fluoromaltose can be used to image bacterial infection in vivo with high specificity. We believe that this class of agents will have a significant impact on the clinical management of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gayatri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gowrishankar
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Namavari
authors.affiliation: Sanofi R&D, Sanofi, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Erwan Benjamin
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Jouannot
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Aileen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoehne
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reeves
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sanjiv Sam
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gambhir
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008320:Maltose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D005462:Fluorine Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D008320:Maltose