From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-04-19 02:17:41 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: adrenal prevtion
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Yes, there has been some work on that already and new work is on-going.
That topic has been addressed in some past posts on providing enough
darkness, medical approaches with deslorelin and with with Lupron, and
new work being done on a vaccine.
Some places with more info are the last print copy of Ferrets Magazine,
and a number of past posts such as:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL4527
including:
BEGIN QUOTE
Added melatonin may not be the best potential preventative of adrenal
disease. Other things have more promise, though melatonin may also be
useful and should not be ignored by anyone just because it is not
perfect.
Suprelorin/deslorelin depot may wind up being very useful and it has a
long effect in the body but in the U.S. the needed depot version for
ferrets has not yet been approved -- though the process to get it
approved began something like 3 (?) years ago meaning that maybe
(hopefully) it will happen soon. There is a large and life-span long
study on this use for ferrets happening in Europe. See the work of
Dr. Nico Shoemaker especially, and Dr. Bob Wagner has some excellent
work on that compound here in the U.S.
A related compound which is also a GnRH agonist but with a much
shorter term effect and higher current cost, Lupron/Prostap/
Leuprorelin/leuprolide depot, has been studied in the Northwest U.S.
in a small and shorter term study for prevention, and luckily that
study is expanding to include more animals and more locations. It may
be that in areas with more light that the use of this class of
medications needs to be approached differently. Most of the published
work on this compound has been done by Dr. Cathy Delaney-Johnson, but
also search for the work by Dr. Bob Wagner.
At least one other related compound has also been under study (Dr. Bob
Wagner) for treatment though not for prevention as far as i know. In
humans that one (Trelstar) appears to have a stronger effect on
androgen reduction so it being considered to see if it might help any
more with some specific difficult situations.
Notice that these are depots meaning that the medication releases
gradually over time.
A new study has been begun which -- if it meets hopes -- could be
wonderful, and that is to develop a vaccine that would hopefully
prevent the cycle that leads to adrenal tumors right at the
gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) level. Doctors Bob Wagner and
Mark Finkler are involved in that work.
END QUOTE
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL1843
including:
BEGIN QUOTE
Hi everybody,
There has been some recent posts about how to
prevent adrenal gland disease, and there seems to
be some confusion on how some of the adrenal
medications work and how they might prevent adrenal
gland disease. I'll try to clear up some of that confusion.
Lupron and Deslorelin both work at the pituitary level to
stop the production of LH. Without LH there is no stimulation
to the adrenal glands. Without the stimulation from LH, the adrenal
gland stops producing hormones. Plus cases of hyperplasia (and
possibly even adenomas) may become smaller and may even return
to normal size with Lupron or Deslorelin treatment. However they
do not work directly on the adrenal glands. Melatonin works a little
differently. It works at the hypothalamus level to reduce LH production.
It may also work directly on the adrenal glands thru melatonin receptors
on the adrenal glands! This helps to prevent the adrenal gland from getting
bigger.
As far as using these products to prevent adrenal gland disease, starting
a juvenile ferret on them may prevent that ferret from getting adrenal
disease.
Likewise starting an adult ferret on them before they have signs of adrenal
gland disease may prevent them from getting adrenal disease as they
get older. However it requires Lupron monthly, year round, for the rest of
its life and not just one dose each spring.
As far as a genetic problem and adrenal gland disease, preliminary work
done by Dr Wagner at the U of Pitt has shown a defect in a tumor suppressor
gene (P53). This defect causes a loss of tumor suppression, so tumors
can form much easier and grow much bigger. He presented this info at
the symposium in Portland.
Hope that helps clear up some of the confusion.
Jerry Murray, DVM
END QUOTE
AND THIS VERY LONG POST WITH MANY DETAILS WHICH IS IMPORTANT
TO READ:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2407
and others
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "neal" <leo5569@...> wrote:
>
> it seems to we are going at this backwards.maybe what we need to
> look at is stopping adrenal before it starts. it seems that early
> nutering as a big part in adrenal. so would giving ferrets hormones
> to replace what is lost. i also see that this could cause other
> problems that would need to be treated.
> neal wilder
>
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