>>Personally I can't cite cases, except a friend of mine whose ferret was
>>given Lupron.  It "appeared" to work (progress was tracked through
>>clinical tests).  Estradial went down, blood (I think it was hematocrit)
>>went up, hair regrew, and, best of all, frequent urinating returned to
>>normal.  Coincidence?  Perhaps, but this is a lot of change soon after
>>starting Lupron.  Unfortunately after a few months, adrenal symptoms
>>returned.
 
>Hmmn.  Don't ferrets with no treatment at all frequently regrow their hair
>and then have it all fall out agan?  It might be interesting to see what
>the bloodwork looks like on ferrets cycling throught this without treatment.
>This makes me think that one possible explanation is that it doesn't work at
>all, but that in some ferrets the treatment coincides wit h the cycle, which
>I suspect is tied to photoperiod??
 
Well, I can't comment on Lupron's interaction with the photoperiod cycle,
but I can say that it is not at all uncommon for ferrets with marginally
elevated levels of estrogens (note that estradiol is not the only hormone
involved in adrenal disease, there are other pre-estradiol metabolites that
are involved in this condition) often have an accentuated shedding cycle at
the early stages of the disease.  My theory is that the estrogenic efect on
the follicle is not enough to cause total atrophy, but do disrupt the normal
cycle of hair loss and air shaft regeneration that each follicle goes
through each year.  So what we have is a ferret that loses hair in a normal
fashion, but it regrows over time, as the levels of estrogne in the blood is
not enough to cause follicular atrophy and total ineffectiveness in
composing a new shaft.
 
 
>I was wondering whether it might be possible for Lupron when given in
>conjunction with Lysodren (sp?) might have some sort of synergistic
>reaction or chemical recombination that results in an effective treatment
>(not a cure though).  Since I don't know the chemical nature of either
>drug, I don't know what potential for that kind of reaction exists.  Just
>curious though.
 
Unfortunately, there is no effect of Lupron on the adrenal.  Lupron is what
we call an analog of GnRH - gonadotropin releasing hormone - an analog is
something that is structurally similar to a chemical from the bodies
standpoint, so in effect, it can occupy the same receptors in the body (in
this case, the GnRH receptors, which are found in the pituitary.  The
adrenal cortex has no GnRH receptors, or at least they have never been
identified.  So this drug is effective only in the pituitary.
 
Gonadotropin releasing hormone is a hormone released by one part of the
pituitary which causes another part of the pituiatry to release several
other hormones (tropins) to work on the gonads hence the name GONADOTROPIN
(the intermediates) RELEASING hormone.  Finally, these other hormones (FSH
and LH - let's not get into that here) cause the ovary and or testis to
release estrogen.
 
In a review of the potiential uses of adrenal disease in human medicine, I
am unable to find any mention of Lupron as a potential therapy.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 2216]