Technetium (^99mTc) exametazime is a

radiopharmaceutical Radiopharmaceuticals, or medicinal radiocompounds, are a group of pharmaceutical drugs containing radioactive isotopes. Radiopharmaceuticals can be used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Radiopharmaceuticals emit radiation themselves, which ...

sold under the trade name Ceretec, and is used by

nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine (nuclear radiology, nucleology), is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactivity, radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging is, in a sense, ''radiology done inside out'', ...

physicians for the detection of altered regional cerebral perfusion in

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and other cerebrovascular diseases. It can also be used for the labelling of

leukocyte White blood cells (scientific name leukocytes), also called immune cells or immunocytes, are cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign entities. White blood cells are genera ...

s to localise intra-

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

infections and

inflammatory bowel disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine ...

. Exametazime (the part without technetium) is sometimes referred to as ''hexamethylpropylene amine oxime'' or ''HMPAO'', although correct chemical names are: *(NE)-N- 3R)-3-3-(2R,3E)-3-hydroxyiminobutan-2-ylmino">3-(2R,3E)-3-hydroxyiminobutan-2-yl.html" ;"title="3R)-3-3-(2R,3E)-3-hydroxyiminobutan-2-yl">3R)-3-3-(2R,3E)-3-hydroxyiminobutan-2-ylmino2,2-dimethylpropyl]amino]butan-2-ylidene]hydroxylamine *or 3,3'-((2,2,-dimethyl-1,3-propanediyl)diimino)bis-2-butanone dioxime.

Chemistry

The drug consists of exametazime as a

chelating agent Chelation () is a type of bonding of ions and their molecules to metal ions. It involves the formation or presence of two or more separate coordinate bonds between a polydentate (multiple bonded) ligand and a single central metal atom. These l ...

for the

radioisotope A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

technetium-99m Technetium-99m (99mTc) is a metastable nuclear isomer of technetium-99 (itself an isotope of technetium), symbolized as 99mTc, that is used in tens of millions of medical diagnostic procedures annually, making it the most commonly used Radiophar ...

. Both

enantiomer In chemistry, an enantiomer (Help:IPA/English, /ɪˈnænti.əmər, ɛ-, -oʊ-/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''ih-NAN-tee-ə-mər''), also known as an optical isomer, antipode, or optical antipode, is one of a pair of molecular entities whi ...

ic forms of exametazime are used—the drug is

racemic In chemistry, a racemic mixture or racemate () is a mixture that has equal amounts (50:50) of left- and right-handed enantiomers of a chiral molecule or salt. Racemic mixtures are rare in nature, but many compounds are produced industrially as r ...

. The third

stereoisomer In stereochemistry, stereoisomerism, or spatial isomerism, is a form of isomerism in which molecules have the same molecular formula and sequence of bonded atoms (constitution), but differ in the three-dimensional orientations of their atoms in ...

of this structure, the ''meso'' form, is not included.

References

External links

European Association of Nuclear Medicine: CeretecGE Healthcare: Ceretec
* Exametazime ligand: {{Radiopharmaceuticals Radiopharmaceuticals Ketoximes Technetium-99m Amines Racemic mixtures