The Synthesis of 18F-FDS and Its Potential Application in Molecular Imaging

Purpose 2-Deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-d-glucose (FDG) is the most commonly used positron emission tomography (PET) tracer for oncological and neurological imaging, but it has limitations on detecting tumor or inflammation in brain gray matter. In this study, we describe the development of 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluorosorbitol (¹⁸F-FDS) and its possible application in lesion detection around brain area. Procedures ¹⁸F-FDS was obtained by reduction of FDG using NaBH₄ (81 ± 4% yield in 30 min). Cell uptake/efflux experiments in cell culture and small animal PET imaging on tumor and inflammation models were performed. Results Despite the low accumulation in cell culture, ¹⁸F-FDS had good tumor uptake and contrast in the subcutaneous U87MG tumor model (4.54%ID/g at 30 min post-injection). Minimal uptake in the normal mouse brain facilitated good tumor contrast in both U87MG and GL-26 orthotopic tumor models. ¹⁸F-FDS also had increased uptake in the inflamed foci of the TPA-induced acute inflammation model. Conclusions Because of the ease of synthesis and favorable in vivo kinetics, ¹⁸F-FDS may have potential applications in certain cases where FDG is inadequate (e.g., brain tumor). Zi-Bo Li and Zhanhong Wu contributed equally to this work