2000 Volume 120 Issue 6 Pages 506-519
Application studies of radionuclides in pharmaceutical fields are described concerning two major categories, such as the use of γ-emitter in nuclear medicine and β-emitter in tracer investigation. In the former radionuclide an effort has been made to develop radioactive new diagnostic agents in the nephro-urology field. Of several agents examined two new radiopharmaceuticals, 99mTc-malic acid and 99mTc-dimercaptopropionic acid proved to be sufficient for renal imaging with adequate concentration in experimental animals and humans. Useful information was obtained for diagnosis of renal diseases using both the labeled agents. Identification and purity tests of radiopharmaceuticals also set forth for official compendia such as the Japanese pharmacopoeia and so on. In the latter one the fates of two medicines, thalidomide and norphenylephrine, were studied and the safety evaluation of some xenobiotics including food additives, plasticizers and domestic chemical products, etc. was carried out in animals using synthesized 14C- or 3H-labeled compounds. In addition, the metabolism of n-propyl-N-nitrosourea, a carcinogen, in rats, and chemical modification of high molecular substances such as DNA, RNA and proteins by 1, 1'-ethylene-bis(1-nitrosourea)(EBNU), a carcinostatic agent, were studied in vitro by the use of the tracer technique.
