[(124)I]IBETA: A New Aβ Plaque Positron Emission Tomography Imaging Agent for Alzheimer’s Disease

Several fluorine-18-labeled PET β-amyloid (Aβ) plaque radiotracers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are in clinical use. However, no radioiodinated imaging agent for Aβ plaques has been successfully moved forward for either single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Radioiodinated pyridyl benzofuran derivatives for the SPECT imaging of Aβ plaques using iodine-123 and iodine-125 are being pursued. In this study, we assess the iodine-124 radioiodinated pyridyl benzofuran derivative 5-(5-[(124)I]iodobenzofuran-2-yl)-N,N-dimethylpyridin-2-amine ([(124)I]IBETA) (Ki = 2.36 nM) for utilization in PET imaging for Aβ plaques. We report our findings on the radioiododestannylation reaction used to prepare [(124/125)I]IBETA and evaluate its binding to Aβ plaques in a 5 × FAD mouse model and postmortem human AD brain. Both [(125)I]IBETA and [(124)I]IBETA are produced in >25% radiochemical yield and >85% radiochemical purity. The in vitro binding of [(125)I]IBETA and [(124)I]IBETA in transgenic 5 × FAD mouse model for Aβ plaques was high in the frontal cortex, anterior cingulate, thalamus, and hippocampus, which are regions of high Aβ accumulation, with very little binding in the cerebellum (ratio of brain regions to cerebellum was >5). The in vitro binding of [(125)I]IBETA and [(124)I]IBETA in postmortem human AD brains was higher in gray matter containing Aβ plaques compared to white matter (ratio of gray to white matter was >5). Anti-Aβ immunostaining strongly correlated with [(124)/(125)I]IBETA regional binding in both the 5 × FAD mouse and postmortem AD human brains. The binding of [(124)/(125)I]IBETA in 5 × FAD mouse and postmortem human AD brains was displaced by the known Aβ plaque imaging agent, Flotaza. Preliminary PET/CT studies of [(124)I]IBETA in the 5 × FAD mouse model suggested [(124)I]IBETA was relatively stable in vivo with a greater localization of [(124)I]IBETA in the brain regions with a high concentration of Aβ plaques. Some deiodination was observed at later time points. Therefore, [(124)I]IBETA may potentially be a useful PET radioligand for Aβ plaques in brain studies.