99mTc–meropenem as a potential SPECT imaging probe for tumor hypoxia

Meropenem was successfully radiolabeled with 99mTc in high labeling yield (92 ± 2%) and stability (~6 h). 99mTc–meropenem showed high accumulation in tumor hypoxic tissue (4.193% injected dose/g organ). 99mTc–meropenem showed high ability to differentiate the tumor tissue from inflamed or infected tissues in different mice models as its T/NT ratio ~4 in case of tumor mice model while T/NT ratio ~1 in case of inflamed mice model. So, 99mTc–meropenem showed high selectivity in comparison with FDG-PET and 99mTc-nitroimidazole analogues. Thus, 99mTc–meropenem could be used as a selective potential imaging agent for diagnosis of tumor hypoxia.