BEGIN QUOTED NEW ABSTRACTS
J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 2009 Mar-Apr;45(2):97-101.
Vestibular syndrome due to a choroid plexus papilloma in a ferret. van
Zeeland Y, Schoemaker N, Passon-Vastenburg M, Kik M. Division of Avian
and Exotic Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht
University, Utrecht 3584 DS, The Netherlands; Dierenarts Specialisten
Amsterdam, Weesperzijde 147, Amsterdam, 1091 ET, The Netherlands.
A 6-year-old, castrated male ferret (Mustela putorius furo) was
presented with progressive neurological signs consisting of a right-
sided head tilt and ataxia. Neurological examination revealed
hemiparesis and absence of proprioception on the right side, consistent
with central vestibular syndrome. Measurement of blood glucose excluded
hypoglycemia due to insulinoma. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography
revealed the presence of an intracranial mass, consistent with either
granuloma or neoplasia. Palliative treatment with prednisolone yielded
no improvement. At postmortem examination, a final diagnosis of a
choroid plexus papilloma originating from the fourth ventricle was
made. This is the first report of such a tumor in a ferret.
PMID: 19258423
http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/full/45/2/97
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19258423
---
Vet Pathol. 2009 Mar;46(2):325-8.
Alcian blue and pyronine y histochemical stains permit assessment of
multiple parameters in pulmonary disease models.
Meyerholz DK, Rodgers J, Castilow EM, Varga SM.
Department of Pathology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine,
145 Medical Research Center, Iowa City, IA 52242 (USA).
Utilization of a combined Alcian Blue and Pyronine Y histochemical
method for the assessment of multiple parameters in the respiratory
tract of various species is described. Acidic mucins were deep blue
(sialylated mucins), red (sulfated mucins), or variably purple (mixture
of sialylated/sulfated mucins), and differential mucus production was
readily detected in a murine respiratory syncytial virus vaccine model
of pulmonary inflammation. Elastic fibers stained red in the walls of
pulmonary arteries, connecting airways, alveolar septa, and subpleural
interstitium. Mast cells had red to red-purple granular cytoplasmic
staining. Nuclei were ubiquitously counterstained pale blue.
Representative staining was detected in tissues from multiple species,
including inbred mice, rats, ferrets, cats, dogs, sheep, and pigs.
The fluorescent property of the stained tissues offers additional
modalities with which to analyze tissue sections. This histochemical
technique detects multiple critical parameters in routine paraffin
sections of lung tissue, reduces the need for repeated serial
sectioning and staining, and is cost-effective and simple to perform.
PMID: 19261646
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19261646
END QUOTED NEW ABSTRACTS
There are also some recent brain research and vocal fold scarring
research that didn't seem really likely to be useful here
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
and morbillavirus work designed to know more about measles but
unfortunately involving CDV which hopefully will at least learn
more about CDV and control:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19203105
On that note: I recently was asked about Vitamins D3 and A in ferrets
vs. in humans. This is a topic I've discussed with a couple of people
who have doctorates in veterinary nutrition. Humans, who are descended
from diurnal (daytime) activity beings without a large amount of organ
meat in the diet more easily can wind up with an overdose of A but too
little D. Ferrets are the opposite. They are descended from crepuscular
(dawn and dusk) activity burrow dwellers who were used to getting their
fair share of livers and other high A level foods. Ferrets who get too
much D3 are like dogs in that they can develop hypercalcemia problems
as a result from what I have learned from those experts. (On reading
the symptoms some people have attributed to too much A in the past in a
few posts some just sound like the ferrets got more oil/fat than their
small intestines could digest and uptake, and others sound like too
much D3, rather than like too much A.)
Here is one way that enough dietary Vitamin A could prove useful for
ferrets:
BEGIN QUOTED ABSTRACT
J Nutr. 2007 Aug;137(8):1916-22.
Disease manifestations of canine distemper virus infection in ferrets
are modulated by vitamin A status.
Rodeheffer C, von Messling V, Milot S, Lepine F, Manges AR, Ward BJ.
McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, Faculty of
Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Montreal General Hospital,
Montreal, QC, Canada.
The measles virus (MV) causes half a million childhood deaths annually.
Vitamin A supplements significantly reduce measles- associated
mortality and morbidity. The mechanisms whereby vitamin A acts against
MV are not understood and currently there is no satisfactory small
animal model for MV infection. We report on the development of a ferret
model to study antiviral activity of vitamin A against canine distemper
virus (CDV). CDV is closely related to MV at the molecular level and
distemper in ferrets mimics measles in humans. We infected vitamin
A-replete (control) and vitamin A-depleted ferrets with CDV and
assessed the ability of high-dose vitamin A supplements to influence
CDV disease. In control ferrets, CDV infection caused fever, rash,
conjunctivitis, cough, coryza, and diarrhea. In contrast, control
ferrets that were given 30 mg of vitamin A did not develop typical
distemper after infection and exhibited only a mild rash. The
supplement did not negatively affect ferret health and resulted in a
100% increase in serum and liver vitamin A concentrations. We also
found that profound vitamin A deficiency is inducible in ferrets and
can be rapidly reversed upon high-dose vitamin A supplementation.
Vitamin A deficiency caused anorexia, diarrhea, cataracts, behavioral
abnormalities, and ultimately death, with or without CDV infection.
All ferrets that received vitamin A supplements, however, recovered
uneventfully from CDV infection. These results replicate many aspects
of the observations of vitamin A therapy in humans with measles and
suggest that CDV infection in ferrets is an appropriate model for the
study of the antiviral mechanism of vitamin A.
PMID: 17634264
END QUOTE
with the COMPLETE and FREE text here:
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/137/8/1916
That one has been mentioned in the FHL before (and perhaps I carried
the abstract to the FML but I am not sure) but I think this may be the
first time that it is fully available for free.
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.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 6265]
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