Nanodiamonds and carbon nanotubes as perspective carriers of bismuth isotopes for nuclear medicine

Abstract

Currently, a wide range of nanomaterials, including carbon nanomaterials (CNMs), are being investigated as possible carriers of radionuclides for nuclear medicine as a part of radiopharmaceuticals (RPs). The present work considers the possibility of using nanodiamonds (ND) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes and their derivatives to act as a potential basis for RPs containing bismuth which have radioisotopes 212,213Bi for targeted alpha-therapy. To study this, the kinetics of Bi(III) sorption onto selected CNMs in aqueous media with different pH, as well as Bi(III) desorption from these samples by a solution of fetal bovine serum at 37 ºC were investigated. The optimal conditions for the sorption of Bi(III) onto the studied CNMs were found; it was shown that oxidized ND was the most promising carrier for bismuth isotopes: sorption at pH 3 to 7 for this sample was close to quantitative, and desorption in 120 min does not exceed 5 %. The cytotoxicity of CNMs was investigated in the standard MTT test, it was shown that LC50 for all studied samples was > 200 μg/mL.