Bacteria from theBurkholderia cepaciacomplex are generally considered
to be non-pathogenic to the healthy
population. However, some of these species may cause serious nosocomial
infections in immunocompromised patients; as such, it is essential
to diagnose these infections rapidly so that adequate treatment can
be initiated. We report here the use of a radiolabeled siderophore,
ornibactin (ORNB), for positron emission tomography imaging. We successfully
radiolabeled ORNB with gallium-68 with high radiochemical purity and
proved that the resulting complex has optimalin vitrocharacteristics. In mice, the complex did not show excessive accumulation
in organs and was excreted in the urine. We demonstrated that the
[68Ga]Ga-ORNB complex accumulates at the site ofBurkholderia multivoransinfection, including pneumonia,
in two animal infection models. These results suggest that [68Ga]Ga-ORNB is a promising tool for the diagnosis, monitoring, and
evaluation of the therapeutic response toB. cepaciacomplex infection.