title: Endocrinopathy and Aging in Ferrets.
abstract: Ferrets have become more popular as household pets and as animal models in biomedical research in the past 2 decades. The average life span of ferrets is about 5-11 years with onset of geriatric diseases between 3-4 years including endocrinopathies, neoplasia, gastrointestinal diseases, cardiomyopathy, splenomegaly, renal diseases, dental diseases, and cataract. Endocrinopathies are the most common noninfectious disease affecting middle-aged and older ferrets. Spontaneous neoplasms affecting the endocrine system of ferrets appear to be increasing in prevalence with a preponderance toward proliferative lesions in the adrenal cortex and pancreatic islet cells. Diet, gonadectomy, and genetics may predispose ferrets to an increased incidence of these endocrinopathies. These functional proliferative lesions cause hypersecretion of hormones that alter the physiology and metabolism of the affected ferrets resulting in a wide range of clinical manifestations. However, there is an apparent dearth of information available in the literature about the causal relationship between aging and neoplasia in ferrets. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the anatomy and physiology of endocrine organs, disease incidence, age at diagnosis, clinical signs, pathology, and molecular markers available for diagnosis of various endocrine disorders in ferrets.
authors.affiliation: Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bakthavatchalu
authors.affiliation: Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muthupalani
authors.affiliation: Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.affiliation: Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA jgfox@mit.edu.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Fox
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D004703:Endocrine System / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D004700:Endocrine System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005289:Ferrets; D023421:Models, Animal; D057805:Pets
keywords: adrenal-associated endocrinopathy; adrenocortical neoplasm; aging; and thyroid; cysts; diabetes mellitus; endocrine tumors; endocrinopathies; estrogen-induced anemia; ferret; gonadectomy; insulinoma; islet cell tumor; multiple endocrine neoplasia; neuroblastoma; ovary; pancreatic polypeptidoma; parathyroid; pheochromocytoma; pituitary; review; teratoma; testis