Improving the stability of 11C–labeled L-methionine with ascorbate

Background Carbon-11 labeled L-methionine (11C-MET) is a popular tracer used in the clinic for imaging brain tumors with positron emission tomography. However, the stability of 11C-MET in its final formulation is not well documented in literature. Recently, we observed fast degradation of HPLC-purified 11C-MET over time, and systematic investigation was conducted to identify the cause. Results In this study, we verified the degraded product as 11C-labeled methionine sulfoxide (11C-METSO). To minimize oxidation, ascorbate (100 ppm) was added to the HPLC eluant, and the resulting HPLC-purified 11C-MET was stable in the final formulation solution without noticeable degradation for up to 1 h after the end of synthesis. Conclusions Our data suggest that to minimize degradation, ascorbate can be added to the 11C-MET formulation solution especially if it is not administered into patients soon after the end of synthesis.