Preparation of 99mTc-quercetion as a labeled flavonoid and the study of its biological distribution in mice with skin tumor

The aim of this study was to label quercetin as a natural flavonoid compound with technetium-99m and to study its biological distribution in different tissues of C57 mice bearing melanoma B16F10 cells for tumor diagnosis. Quercetin labeling was performed with technetium-99m at 1.5 mg quercetin and 40 μg SnCL2 at room temperature and pH about 5.  Labeling yield was evaluated using TLC in acetone and water / acetonitrile as solvents. Also, in animal study, the tissue activity of various organs including heart, lung, stomach, intestine, liver, kidney, blood, spleen, muscle, and tumor were measured through gamma counter. Radiochemical purity above 95% and radiochemical stability of 90% at one hour were observed. The results of biological distribution of the labeled compound showed the highest radioactivity uptake in liver, kidney, intestine and tumor (2.2 ± 0.17 at 2 h post injection) tissues. Quercetin labeled through direct method with high radiochemical purity can be used as a candidate for diagnostic radiotracer.