BEGIN QUOTE J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2006 Dec 1;229(11):1743-8. Effects of melatonin administration on the clinical course of adrenocortical disease in domestic ferrets. Ramer JC, Benson KG, Morrisey JK, O'brien RT, Paul-Murphy J. Department of Surgical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706. Objective-To evaluate the effect of oral administration of melatonin on clinical signs, tumor size, and serum steroid hormone concentrations in ferrets with adrenocortical disease. Design- Noncontrolled clinical trial. Animals-10 adult ferrets with clinical signs of adrenocortical disease (confirmed via serum steroid hormone concentration assessments). Procedures-Melatonin (0.5 mg) was administered orally to ferrets once daily for 1 year. At 4-month intervals, a complete physical examination; abdominal ultrasonographic examination (including adrenal gland measurement); CBC; serum biochemical analyses; and assessment of serum estradiol, androstenedione, and 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone concentrations were performed. Serum prolactin and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate concentrations were evaluated at the first, second, and last examinations, and serum cortisol concentration was evaluated at the first and last examinations. Results-Daily oral administration of melatonin greatly affected clinical signs of adrenocortical disease in ferrets; changes included hair regrowth, decreased pruritus, increased activity level and appetite, and decreased vulva or prostate size. Mean width of the abnormally large adrenal glands was significantly increased after the 12-month treatment period. Recurrence of clinical signs was detected in 6 ferrets at the 8-month evaluation. Compared with pretreatment values, serum 17alpha- hydroxyprogesterone and prolactin concentrations were significantly increased and decreased after 12 months, respectively. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Results suggest that melatonin is a useful, easily administered, palliative treatment to decrease clinical signs associated with adrenocortical disease in ferrets, and positive effects of daily treatment were evident for at least an 8-month period. Oral administration of melatonin did not decrease adrenal gland tumor growth in treated ferrets. PMID: 17144819 [PubMed - in process] END QUOTE Sukie (not a vet) Current FHL address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth People can join there or can send a blank mail to the automated joining address: [log in to unmask] and then follow the directions. (The second is recommended for those having problems with Yahoogroups web settings, and afterward send a blank mail from your subscribed address to [log in to unmask] to get the digest instead of individual mails. ) 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/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ [Posted in FML 5449]