Synthesis and automated fluorine-18 radiolabeling of new PSMA-617 derivatives with a CuAAC radiosynthetic approach

In the last decade, the development of new radiopharmaceuticals for the imaging and therapy of prostate cancer has been a highly active and important area of research, especially focusing on the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), an antigen which is upregulated in prostate, as well as in other tumor cells. A large variety of PSMA ligands have been radiolabeled, to date. Among the various derivatives, PSMA-617 resulted to be one of the most interesting in terms of interaction with the antigen and clinical properties, and its lutetium-177 labeled version has recently been approved by regulatory agencies for therapeutic purposes. For this reasons, the radiolabeling with fluorine-18 of a PSMA-617 derivative might be of interest. Beside other methodologies to radiolabel macromolecules with fluorine-18, the “click-chemistry” approach resulted to be very useful, and the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) is considered one of most efficient and reliable. This paper proposes the synthesis of a suitable precursor for the radiolabeling with fluorine-18 of a new PSMA-617 derivative. The whole radiosynthetic procedure has been fully automated, and the final product, which proved to be stable in plasma, has been obtained with radiochemical yield and purity suitable for subsequent preclinical studies.     

The effect of experimental diabetes and membrane occlusiveness on guided bone regeneration: A proof of principle study

Clinical Oral Investigations - To evaluate the effect of membrane occlusiveness and experimental diabetes on early and late healing following guided bone regeneration. A total of 30 Wistar rats...     

Effect of the Lipid Fraction of Microalgae on Biochemical Parameters in Female C57BL/6 Mice

Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine - We studied the effect of microalgae of various systematic groups added to the ration on the biochemical parameters of blood serum and liver and...     

Sickle cell nephropathy: A review of novel biomarkers and their potential roles in early detection of renal involvement

Whether the underlying mutations are homozygous, heterozygous, or co-inherited with other hemoglobinopathies, sickle cell disease is known to afflict the kidneys, leading to the clinical entity known as sickle cell nephropathy (SCN). Although common, SCN remains diagnostically elusive. Conventional studies performed in the context of renal disorders often fail to detect early stage SCN. This makes the quest for early diagnosis and treatment more challenging, and it increases the burden of chronic kidney disease-related morbidity among patients. Novel diagnostic tools have been employed to overcome this limitation. In this study, we discuss various biomarkers of SCN, including those employed in clinical practice and others recently identified in experimental settings, such as markers of vascular injury, endothelial dysfunction, tubulo-glomerular damage, and oxidative stress. These include kidney injury molecule-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, N-acetyl-B-D-glucosaminidase, ceruloplasmin, orosomucoid, nephrin, and cation channels, among others. Furthermore, we explore the potential of novel biomarkers for refining diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and describe some obstacles that still need to be overcome. We highlight the importance of a collaborative approach to standardize the use of promising new biomarkers. Finally, we outline the limitations of conventional markers of renal damage as extensions of the pathogenic process occurring at the level of the organ and its functional subunits, with a discussion of the expected pattern of clinical and biochemical progression among patients with SCN.     

Association of TPH1 and TPH2 Gene Polymorphisms with the Risk of Developing Psychoneurological Disorders

Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology - The question of the involvement of impairments to the metabolism of melatonin and its precursors (tryptophan and serotonin) in the development of...     

Veno-arterial CO2 difference and lactate for prediction of early mortality after cardiac arrest

Patients admitted to intensive care after cardiac arrest are at risk of circulatory shock and early mortality due to cardiovascular failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the veno-arterial pCO₂ difference (∆pCO₂; central venous CO₂ – arterial CO₂) and lactate to predict early mortality in postcardiac arrest patients. This was a pre-planned prospective observational sub-study of the target temperature management 2 trial. The sub-study patients were included at five Swedish sites. Repeated measurements of ∆pCO₂ and lactate were conducted at 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, and 72 h after randomization. We assessed the association between each marker and 96-h mortality and their prognostic value for 96-h mortality. One hundred sixty-three patients were included in the analysis. Mortality at 96 h was 17%. During the initial 24 h, there was no difference in ∆pCO₂ levels between 96-h survivors and non-survivors. ∆pCO₂ measured at 4 h was associated with an increased risk of death within 96 h (adjusted odds ratio: 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.29; p = .018). Lactate levels were associated with poor outcome over multiple measurements. The area under the receiving operating curve to predict death within 96 h was 0.59 (95% CI: 0.48–0.74) and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.72–0.92) for ∆pCO₂ and lactate, respectively. Our results do not support the use of ∆pCO₂ to identify patients with early mortality in the postresuscitation phase. In contrast, non-survivors demonstrated higher lactate levels in the initial phase and lactate identified patients with early mortality with moderate accuracy.