The presence of positron emission tomography (PET) centers
at most
major hospitals worldwide, along with the improvement of PET scanner
sensitivity and the introduction of total body PET systems, has increased
the interest in the PET tracer development using the short-lived radionuclides
carbon-11. In the last few decades, methodological improvements and
fully automated modules have allowed the development of carbon-11
tracers for clinical use. Radiolabeling natural compounds with carbon-11
by substituting one of the backbone carbons with the radionuclide
has provided important information on the biochemistry of the authentic
compounds and increased the understanding of their in vivo behavior in healthy and diseased states. The number of endogenous
and natural compounds essential for human life is staggering, ranging
from simple alcohols to vitamins and peptides. This review collates
all the carbon-11 radiolabeled endogenous and natural exogenous compounds
synthesised to date, including essential information on their radiochemistry
methodologies and preclinical and clinical studies in healthy subjects.