Not ferrets but may be of interest since minks are closely related: > Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2007 Sep 1; [Epub ahead of print] > >Chronic Oral Exposure to Bunker C Fuel Oil Causes Adrenal >Insufficiency in Ranch Mink (Mustela vison). > >Mohr FC, Lasley B, Bursian S. >Department of Veterinary Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, >School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, >95616, USA > >Animals living in the near-shore marine environment are predisposed >to contact with chemical contaminants through land- and ocean-based >activities. The release of petroleum hydrocarbons into the marine >environment is a stressor to this environment and its resident >wildlife. The stress response to chemical threats is dependent on an >intact hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which also may be a target >to the effects of these chemicals. Ranch mink (Mustela vison) were >used as surrogates for sea otters (Enhydra lutris) to examine the >development of adrenal hypertrophy after chronic, oral exposure to low >concentrations of bunker C fuel oil. Animals were fed three different >concentrations of fuel oil (48, 520, and 908 ppm) or mineral oil >(control) for 60-62 days. At the end of the exposure, blood and >fecal samples were collected and organs were weighed and examined >microscopically. In all fuel oil groups, exposure resulted in adrenal >hypertrophy, an adaptation suggestive of adrenal activation. However, >concentrations of serum and fecal glucocorticoids and serum >progesterone were not elevated over control values. Hematologic >parameters and serum chemistries showed no changes consistent with >increased adrenal activity. In addition, adrenal glands from animals >fed the higher concentrations of fuel oil contained large numbers of >heavily vacuolated cells. We conclude that petroleum hydrocarbons >are inducing an adrenal insufficiency that leads to the adaptive >enlargement of the gland. This would increase the susceptibility >of fuel oil-exposed animals to the deleterious effects of other >environmental stressors. > PMID: 17763884 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] >Environ Toxicol Chem. 2007 May;26(5):988-97. >Immunotoxicity of the commercial polybrominated diphenyl ether >mixture DE-71 in ranch mink (Mustela vison). > >Martin PA, Mayne GJ, Bursian FS, Tomy G, Palace V, Pekarik C, Smits J. >Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Burlington, Ontario >L7R 4A6. > >Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are persistent, >bioaccumulative, organohalogen compounds that are increasing >exponentially in the Great Lakes (Canada/USA) biota. The present study >was undertaken to examine the immunological effects of a commercial >PBDE mixture in ranch mink (Mustela vison). Twenty-week-old mink (n = >10 mink/group) were exposed to 0, 1, 5, or 10 ppm of DE-71 through >their diet for eight weeks. The phytohemagglutinin- induced cutaneous >reaction, and antibodies specific to keyhole limpet hemocyanin >conjugated to dinitrophenol were measured. Liver microsomal >ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity also was measured. Organs >were weighed and spleens were examined histologically. No differences >were found in the PHA-induced skin response in exposed mink; mink in >the two highest treatments exhibited significant increases in antibody >production over control mink. Systemic toxicity was apparent; >significant body weight reductions were found in mink exposed to 5 >and 10 ppm of DE-71. Exposed mink had significantly larger relative >spleen, adrenal, and liver masses than control mink. Spleens of mink >exposed to 10 ppm of DE-71 had significantly increased germinal center >development and incidence of B-cell hyperplasia. The activity of EROD >was induced in all treated mink relative to controls and was >positively associated with the liver somatic index. Hematocrit in >mink from the two highest exposure groups was significantly lower >than control mink. Percentage neutrophils increased and percentage >lymphocytes decreased significantly in mink from the higher two dosage >groups. Our findings have direct relevance to wild mink in the Great >Lakes ecosystem, because mink are top predators of the aquatic food >web, providing evidence for the vulnerability of this species to the >effects of environmental PBDE mixtures. > PMID: 17521147 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] I love it when places realize they should adopt out: >J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2007 Jul;46(4):50-4. >Outcomes of adoption of adult laboratory ferrets after gonadectomy >during a veterinary student teaching exercise. > >Harms CA, Stoskopf MK. >Center for Marine Sciences and Technology, North Carolina State >University, Morehead City, NC, USA. [log in to unmask] > >We surveyed 27 people who had adopted a total of 43 adult domestic >ferrets after their use in a series of veterinary student surgery >teaching laboratories to assess the success of those adoptions and >to determine the rate of occurrence of common maladies of domestic >ferrets after adult gonadectomy as compared with the usual practice >of early-age gonadectomy. The adoptions took place 1-7 y prior to the >survey. The response rate was 48% of adopters, covering 53% of the >ferrets. Overall the success of former breeding and instructional >ferrets as pets were rated as 91% good or excellent and 4.5% poor. >Behavioral issues (for example, nipping, failure to litter train) were >noted as the most common problems (36% of ferrets). Adrenal gland >disease, insulinoma, or lymphosarcoma occurred in 23% of all ferrets >and accounted for 57% of those ferrets that had died prior to the >time of the survey. > PMID: 17645296 [PubMed - in process] If I recall right, didn't FML member shelters and the FML play a part in those ferrets finding homes? 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/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 5729]