Experience with the iodine-123 and technetium-99m labelled anti-granulocyte antibody MAb47: a comparison of labelling methods

Four different methods of radiolabelling the anti-granulocyte monoclonal antibody MAb47 were compared and their influence on diagnostic value studied. The best clinical images were obtained following labelling with iodine-123 by the Iodogen method and direct labelling with technetium-99m after tris-(carboxyethyl)-phosphine treatment of MAb47 to achieve disulphide bridge reduction. 99mTc labelling using a specific ligand (MAb47-mtp), or a second method involving direct reduction with mercaptoethanol, led to an increased background activity in clinical studies, thus impeding the diagnosis of chronic disease. Fresh infections were clearly localized by all four preparations. The elimination of the activity from the blood was slower in the case of the iodinated MAb47, while the collected urine samples showed an excretion of about 10% of the injected activity per day independent of the labelling method. The results in terms of sensitivity and specificity were rather similar for all labelling methods and ranged from 90% to 99%.