Comparative characterization of the prostate gland in intact, and surgically and chemically neutered ferrets

Surgical gonadectomy in ferrets was routinely performed in clinical practice in order to reduce their typical musky odor as well as inhibit aggressive behavior. Over recent years, however, early surgical neutering has been correlated with the occurrence of adrenal gland disease that causes various symptoms and prostatic hyperplasia. More recently, a synthetic long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog, deslorelin acetate, has been developed in order to overcome the abovementioned complications. The aim of the present study was to compare the prostate gland in intact, and surgically and chemically neutered ferrets by means of deslorelin implants, from a morphological and morphometrical point of view. The macroscopic assessment of the prostate revealed a constant anatomical topography in all three categories. The prostatic tissue had similar organization, originating dorsally to the bladder neck, extending laterally and then ventrally to the urethra, surrounding it entirely, dividing caudally into a dorsal and a ventral portion, and finally ending on the ventral surface of the urethra. In both the deslorelin-treated and the surgically gonadectomized ferrets, a dramatic involution of the glandular prostatic tissue occurred, resulting in a decrease in acini size, more prominent in the chemically neutered ferrets, together with a hyperplasia of fibromuscular stroma. Epithelial acinar heights and acini cross-sectional areas measured from the prostatic tissues of the neutered ferrets showed significantly smaller values than those relating to the intact ferrets. Therefore, chemical castration by means of deslorelin implants, also being a nonsurgical reversible procedure, could be considered an efficient method to prevent prostatic hyperplasia in ferrets.