From:
AFERRETVET@cs.com
Date: 2004-12-03 03:26:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Melatonin safety
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <ea.5dd0c6f9.2ee136c8@cs.com>
Hi Brenda,
Sorry to hear that you lost your ferrets, but your
description certainly does not sound like the cause
of death was from melatonin. In the one description
of a post surgery ferret having projectile vomiting then
sudden death, I would suspect a gastric (stomach) ulcer
that hit a blood vessel (thus the blood in the vomitus) as
it perforated.
Melatonin has been used in research projects for 3 decades
in ferrets (both orally and by injection), and for 20+ years in
mink. When I contacted one of the melatonin implant researchers
(Dr Bruce Murphy, University of Montreal), one of the things he
pointed out was "the lack of toxicity." There was no adverse
reactions in the ferret study or in several mink studies.
In the mink toxicity study they gave an average dose of
124 mg/kg to 8-10 week old female mink kits. No adverse
reactions, no signs of toxicity, no gross or histopathologic
changes. The kits did gain more weight than the control
group. You can get those studies from the FDA's website.
There have also been a lot of melatonin research in humans,
again with no toxicity. One human study even said melatonin
had a "complete lack of toxicity" (Modulation of cancer endocrine
therapy by melatonin: a phase II study of tamoxifen plus
melatonin in metastatic breast cancer patients progressing
under tamoxifen alone, Lissoni P, et al, British journal of
cancer, vol. 71, 1995, p 856).
Again sorry about your loss,
Jerry Murray, DVM