Evaluation of the in vitro stability of gadolinium (III) polyoxometalates.

The gadolinium chelates of lacunary polyoxometalates were evaluated for in vitro stability against rat serum, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), endogenous metal cations, and DTPA-doped rat serum. The chelates dissociated rapidly in rat serum. Challenges by DTPA gave relatively slower dissociation rates, whereas challenges by endogenous metal cations (Fe(III), Zn(II), and Cu(II)) occurred at a rate comparable to the serum challenge, suggesting the instability in serum is due to a transmetalation mechanism. Challenges by DTPA-doped serum gave slower rates of dissociation than in native serum, verifying the transmetalation mechanism.