Antimicrobial Peptide 99mTc-Ubiquicidin 29–41 as Human Infection-Imaging Agent: Clinical Trial

Ubiquicidin (UBI) 29–41 is a cationic, synthetic antimicrobial peptide fragment that binds preferentially with the anionic mi-crobial cell membrane at the site of infection. The current study was conducted to evaluate its potential as an infection-imaging agent in humans. Methods: Eighteen patients, 9 female and 9 male (mean age, 31.7 y; range, 5–75 y), with suspected bone, soft-tissue, or prosthesis infections were included in the study. 99mTc-UBI 29–41 in a dose of 400 g/370–400 MBq was in-jected intravenously in adults. A dynamic study was followed by spot views of the suspected region of infection (target) and a corresponding normal area (nontarget) at 30, 60, 120, and 240 min. The target-to-nontarget ratios were used to find the opti-mum time for imaging. Whole-body anterior and posterior im-ages were also acquired at 30, 120, and 240 min to study biodistribution. Activity in each organ was expressed as per