Most 99mTc/phosphine/isocyanide complexes synthesized to date show preferential uptake by the myocardium of many animal species but not in man. A new complex has been synthesized, [99mTc(DEPE)2(CNR)2], +(DEPIC), where R = t - butyl isocyanide, which in three animal species images the myocardium very well, but in humans it remains primarily in the blood pool. One reason for the difference in the behavior of these complexes in different species could be the characteristics of their binding to plasma proteins. The protein binding characteristics of DEPIC and two other well-known complexes have therefore been studied. Whereas the other complexes bind nonspecifically to many proteins both in animal and human plasma, DEPIC binds almost exclusively to prealbumin in humans but nonspecifically to other proteins in the rabbit. The binding sites in human plasma appear to be those normally occupied by thyroxine on the prealbumin tetramer and these can be blocked by sodium salicylate.