Akram Fazli - Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
Mojtaba Salouti - Biology Research Center, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
Gholamreza Ahmadi - Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran
Fatemeh Mirshojaei - Department of Radioisotope, Nuclear Researches Center, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Tehran, Iran

Introduction Bacterial infection is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Nuclear medicine has an important role in helping the diagnosis of deep-seated infections by developing more specific radiopharmaceuticals. The aim of this study was to evaluate 99mTc-labeling ceftriaxone as a new radiopharmaceutical for Staphylococcus aureus infection imaging in nuclear medicine. Materials and Methods Radiolabeling of ceftriaxone was carried out by adding 370 MBq of 99mTc to 10 mg of ceftriaxone in the presence of 50 µg of SnCl2.2H2O at pH=5. The radiochemical purity and stability tests at room temperature and human blood serum were evaluated with ITLC. Intramuscular infection was induced by injection of Staphylococcus aureus into the left thigh muscle of the mice. The biodistribution of 99mTc-ceftriaxone was studied in normal and infected mice at various times post-injection. Results Radiochemical purity of the product was 94.5±5.4% with a good stability at room temperature and human serum, 80.6% and 71.2% after 24 h, respectively. The biodistribution studies showed the localization of 99mTc-ceftriaxone at the site of infection with high sensitivity without any significant accumulation in vital organs. Conclusion Due to the ease of 99mTc-ceftriaxone conjugation method, high labeling efficiency, and high uptake in the infected muscle, it may provide a promising candidate as a targeting radiopharmaceutical for imaging infectious foci due to Staphylococcus aureus in nuclear medicine.

Ceftriaxone, Infection, Radiopharmaceutical, Staphylococcus aureus, Targeting, 99mTc-radiolabeling