TOWARD THE MEASUREMENT OF BIODISTRIBUTION OF ¹⁸F-LABELED INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS WITH POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET)

Authors

Katelyenn S. McCauley, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

Spring 4-24-2015

Document Type

Article

Citation

McCauley, K. S. Toward the Measurement of Biodistribution of ¹⁸F-LABELED Industrial Chemicals with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 2015.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science, Major: Chemistry, Under the Supervision of Professor Stephen DiMagno. Lincoln, Nebraska: May 2015

Copyright (c) 2015 Katelyenn S. McCauley

Abstract

Plasticizers are added to polymeric materials to increase flexibility and durability, thus they constitute a common, and widely used class of industrial chemicals. Plasticizers have been suspected of a number of adverse health effects including the interference with the endocrine system.¹ These substances have the tendency to migrate to the surfaces of materials, where they can be absorbed, ingested, or inhaled. ⁵ The iniquitousness of plasticizers and the daily contact with polymeric materials has given rise to concern about the toxicity and health effects of these substances. Many long-term and excessive-dose studies have been conducted on many of these chemicals, but little has been done to determine the short-term and small-dose effects of these types of compounds. ^2,3,4 Classical methods of examining the biodistribution of such substances include autoradiography, as well as an array of other analytical techniques. While these methods can sufficiently provide biodistribution data, they suffers some limitations.

The majority of this thesis will argue that positron emission tomography (PET) is a potential replacement for classical techniques to monitor biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of widespread environmental contaminants. The work in this masters thesis is focused on the preparation of three labeled model compounds: [¹⁸F] 2-fluoro-4-(2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propan-2-yl)phenol, [¹⁸F]diethyl 4-fluorophthalate, and [¹⁸F] bis(2-ethylhexyl) 4-fluorophthalate. Imaging of these compounds will be offered as proof of principle. Studies demonstrate that this approach is feasible, and that it can complement and replace many of the laborious animal studies used in current toxicology research.

Advisor: Stephen DiMagno