Ferrets, of course, are already known to be extremely sensitive to the
products of tobacco smoke.

Meanwhile, studies of betacarotene consumption combined with damage
from smoke are somewhat mixed. In a number of situations lung
malignancies actually worsen.

This abstract looks at why that can happen.

Pumpkin, carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes are among the high dietary
sources of beta carotene.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19638427

>Carcinogenesis. 2009 Jul 28. [Epub ahead of print]
>Beta-carotene affects oxidative stress related DNA damage in lung
>epithelial cells and in ferret lung.
>van Helden YG, Keijer J, Heil SG, Pico C, Palou A, Oliver P, Munnia A,
>Briede JJ, Peluso M, Hal NF, van Schooten FJ, Godschalk RW. Department
>of Health Risk Analysis and Toxicology, Research Institute NUTRIM,
>Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
>
>Beta-carotene (BC) was found to enhance lung cancer risk in smokers.
>This adverse effect was unexpected because BC was thought to act as an
>anti-oxidant against cigarette smoke derived radicals. These radicals
>can directly or indirectly damage DNA, leading to the formation of
>pro-mutagenic DNA lesions such as
>8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine(8-oxo-dG) and
>3-(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentafuranosyl)pyrimido[1,2-alpha]purin-
>10(3H)-one deoxyguanosine(M(1)dG).
>Later, it was suggested that high concentrations of BC could also
>result in pro-oxidant effects. Therefore, we investigated whether high
>but physiologically feasible concentrations of BC were able to alter
>i. the formation of radicals in vitro assessed by electron spin
>resonance spectroscopy (ESR), ii. the levels of 8-oxo- dG and M(1)dG
>in vitro in lung epithelial cells after incubation with H(2)O(2) and
>the smoke derived carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and iii. the
>levels of 8-oxo-dG and M(1)dG in vivo in ferrets' lung after chronic
>exposure to B[a]P. BC increased in vitro hydroxyl radical formation in
>the Fenton reaction, but inhibited the formation of carbon centered
>radicals. Similarly, BC was able to enhance 8-oxo-dG in vitro in lung
>epithelial cells. On the other hand, BC significantly inhibited M(1)dG
>formation in lung epithelial cells, especially after induction of
>M(1)dG by H(2)O(2) or B[a]P. Finally, BC supplementation of ferrets
>also resulted in a significant decrease in M(1)dG, but in contrast to
>the in vitro experiments, no effect was observed on 8-oxo-dG levels,
>probably because of increased base excision repair capacities (BER) as
>assessed by a modified comet assay. These data indicate that the fate
>of BC being a pro- or anti-oxidant strongly depends on the type of
>radical involved.
>
> PMID: 19638427

Ultimately, it boils down to smoke being extremely hard on ferrets
just as it is on humans. The effect is worse if there is a pulmonary,
allergy, or cardiac problem, perhaps others as well. It may be that
the effect is worse if the ferret's diet also contains supplementary
pumpkin, as is used for some ferrets with IBD.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

[Posted in FML 6410]