Contrast agents

摘要

This invention relates to contrast agents and the use of these contrast agents for diagnosis of diseases in humans and animals based on mapping of metabolic activity. The contrast agents can be used to identify tissue or cells with metabolic activity or enzymatic activity deviating from the normal. A contrast agent substrate changes pharmacodynamic and/or pharmacokinetic properties upon a chemical modification from a contrast agent substrate to a contrast agent product in a specific enzymatic transformation, thereby detecting areas of disease upon a deviation in the enzyme activity from the normal.