Aims: Thyroid hormones (TH) play an important role in the development and functional maintenance of the central nervous system. The purpose of this study was to develop a radiotracer method for studying the in vivo efflux transport of iodide liberated by the TH metabolism in the brain. The rationale of our method is as follows: a radioiodinated compound can enter the brain and rapidly release iodide in situ; the iodide efflux rate can be estimated from the clearance of brain radioactivity after disappearance of the iodinated compound.
Main methods: 6-[(125)I]Iodo-9-pentylpurine ([(125)I]9Pe6IP) was designed to enter the brain and release (125)I(-) by the reaction with glutathione and synthesized from the corresponding bromo derivative in a Br/(125)I exchange reaction. The brain kinetics of radioactivity and radioactive metabolites were investigated after intravenous injection of [(125)I]9Pe6IP into mice. The iodide efflux rate was estimated in mice pretreated with perchlorate, an inhibitor of iodide transport from the brain.
Key findings: High brain uptake (5.3% injected dose/g) was observed at 1 min, and almost complete conversion of [(125)I]9Pe6IP to (125)I(-) occurred 10 min after injection. The (125)I(-) uptake from the blood was negligible. (125)I(-) was eliminated from the brain along a single-exponential curve with a half-life of 6.0 min. Furthermore, dose-dependent inhibition of (125)I(-) efflux was observed in mice pretreated with perchlorate.
Significance: We conclude that 9Pe6IP labeled with (124)I (positron emitter) or (123)I (single-photon emitter) may be useful for studying the in vivo efflux transport of iodide in the brain using nuclear medicine imaging devices.