Automated synthesis of [11C]meta hydroxyephedrine, a PET radiopharmaceutical for studying sympathetic innervation in the heart

PET imaging of the sympathetic innervation of the heart can involve the labelling of catecholamine analogues as [¹¹C]meta-hydroxyephedrine ([¹¹C]MHED) which allows the study of adrenergic neurons in heart diseases. Aim of this study was the development of an automatic synthesis program for [¹¹C]MHED using a computer-assisted [¹¹C]methylation module which provides the production and the purification of this radiopharmaceutical with reproducible radiochemical yield for cardiological studies in clinical PET. Radiochemical yield of [¹¹C]MHED was 12 plusmn 1% (n=5) (decay corrected referred to the end of bombardment) with an average production of 3.1 GBq for patient administration. Radiochemical purity was always higher than 99%. These preliminary results show that this computer-assisted approach for the synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals represents a reliable tool for [¹¹C]MHED production in clinical PET.