Born and raised in rural New Jersey, Dr. Thompson grew
up working with Standardbred race
horses both at the farm, and later in life, at the racetrack. He entered Rutgers University, the
State University of New Jersey, in 1969 in the College of Agriculture and Environmental
Sciences. After graduation in May 1973 with his B.S. in Animal Science, he entered graduate
school in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Colorado State
University.
At CSU, Dr. Thompson worked with Dr. Bill "BW" Pickett
in the
area of Equine Reproduction. His M.S. thesis project involved the study of
photoperiod in the control of the seasonal cycle in stallions. After receiving his M.S.
in 1976, Dr. Thompson stayed with Dr. Pickett to work towards the Ph.D. degree in the
area of steroidal control of gonadotropin production and secretion in the stallion. He
received his Ph.D. in 1979, and then traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to work as a post-doctoral
trainee with Dr. Larry Ewing in the School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins
University in the area of male
reproductive endocrinology. In July 1980, Dr. Thompson entered into his professional academic
career
as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Louisiana State University in
Baton Rouge.
Honors & Awards:
National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow - 1979-1980; Young Animal Scientist Award -
Southern Section of the American Society of Animal Science - February, 1987; First Mississippi
Corporation Award of Excellence for Outstanding Work in the Louisiana Agricultural
Experiment
Station - January, 1988; Award of Merit Winner for Research - LSU Chapter of Gamma Sigma
Delta - March, 1990; Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Louisiana Agricultural
Experiment Station 1994 Outstanding Progress Report Award (3rd place) - January 1996;
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station 1995
Outstanding Progress Report Award - Campus (1st place) - June 1996;
Tipton Team Research Award in Recognition of Excellence in Research, Louisiana Agricultural
Experiment Station, December, 1998;
Sedberry Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching in the LSU College of
Agriculture - October, 2000.
Dr. Thompson currently sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of Thorn
BioSciences,
LLC, of Lexington, KY. In June 1999, Dr. Thompson took over the reins as President of
the Equine Nutrition &
Physiology Society.
Teaching:
- ANSC 4088 Horse Production - spring semester
- ANSC 7001 Experimental Methods - fall semester
- ANSC 7050 Advanced Animal Physiology - fall semester in even years
Research Interests:
Dr. Thompson's research interests are focused on the nutritional and metabolic interactions with
reproductive traits in horses, with a major emphasis on the seasonal anestrous state in mares. He
and his students are currently studying the involvement of growth hormone and prolactin in
metabolic processes and gonadal function in mares and stallions, and have found that treatment
with recombinant porcine prolactin can in fact reverse the seasonal anestrous state in pony mares.
In addition, they are working with industry to assess the potential use of recombinant equine
growth hormone in enhancing wound healing in horses, which also allows them to study the
effects of long term high growth hormone concentrations on glucose metabolism and endogenous
growth hormone kinetics. In other industry-funded research, Dr. Thompson and his students
study the efficacy of various formulations of gonadotropin releasing hormone and its analogs for
inducing ovulation in mares. Dr. Thompson's five-year project is also designed to determine
which external factors, such as exercise, feeding and stress, alter the secretion of prolactin and
growth hormone, so that strategies might be devised to manipulate their levels for the
enhancement of breeding and(or) nutritional efficiency.
Recent Publications:
- Cartmill JA, Thompson DL, Gentry LR, Pruett HE, Johnson CA. 2003.
Effects of dexamethasone, glucose infusion, adrenocorticotropin, and propylthiouracil
on plasma leptin concentrations in horses. Domest Anim Endocrinol 24:1-14.
PubMed Abstract
- Gentry LR, Thompson DL Jr, Gentry GT Jr, Davis KA, Godke RA,
Cartmill JA. 2002.
The relationship between body condition, leptin, and reproductive and hormonal
characteristics of
mares during the seasonal anovulatory period. J Anim Sci 80:2695-2703.
PubMed Abstract
- Johnson CA, Thompson DL, Cartmill JA. 2002.
Pituitary responsiveness to GnRH in mares following deslorelin acetate implantation to
hasten ovulation.
J Anim Sci 80:2681-2687.
PubMed Abstract
- Donadeu, FX, DL Thompson Jr. 2002. Administration of sulpiride
to anovulatory mares in winter: Effects on prolactin and gonadotropin concentrations, ovarian
activity, ovulation, and hair shedding. Theriogenology 57:963-976.
PubMed Abstract
- Kulinski, KM, DL Thompson Jr, EL Capshaw, DD French, JL Oliver.
2002. Daily treatment of growing foals with equine somatotropin: Pathologic and
endocrinologic assessments at necropsy and residual effects in live animals. J Anim Sci.
80:392-400.
PubMed Abstract
- Gentry, L. R., D. L. Thompson, Jr., and A. M. Stelzer. 2002.
Responses of seasonally anovulatory mares to daily administration of thyrotropin-releasing
hormone and(or) gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog. J Anim Sci 80:208-213.
PubMed Abstract
- Kennedy SR, DL Thompson Jr , HE Pruett, PJ Burns, R Deghenghi.
2002. Growth hormone response to a novel GH releasing tripeptide in horses: Interaction
with GnRH, TRH, and sulpiride. J Anim Sci 80:744-750.
PubMed Abstract
- Thatcher CE, DL Thompson Jr. 2002. Effects of frequency of
treatment with recombinant equine somatotropin on selected biological responses in
geldings. Domest Anim Endocrinol 22:127-143.
PubMed Abstract
- Capshaw EL, DL Thompson Jr , KM Kulinski, CA Johnson, DD French.
2001. Daily treatment of horses with equine somatotropin from 4 to 16 months of
age. J Anim Sci 79:3137-3147.
PubMed Abstract
- Sticker LS, DL Thompson Jr., LR Gentry. 2001. Pituitary hormone
and insulin responses to infusion of amino acids and N-methyl-D,L-aspartate in horses.
J Anim Sci 79:735-744.
PubMed Abstract
- Johnson CA, DL Thompson Jr., KM Kulinski, AM Guitreau. 2000.
Prolonged interovulatory interval and hormonal changes in mares following the use of
OvuplantTM to hasten ovulation. J Equine Vet Sci 20:331-336.
- Thompson DL Jr.. 2000. Immunization against GnRH in male
species (comparative aspects). Anim Reprod Sci 60-61:459-469.
- Gentry LR, DL Thompson Jr, JM Fernandez, LA Smith, DW Horohov,
BS Leise. 1999. Effects of chromium tripicolinate supplementation on plasma hormone
and metabolite concentrations and immune function in adult mares. J Equine Vet Sci
19:259-265.
- Smith, LA, DL Thompson Jr., DD French, BS Leise. 1999. Effects
of recombinant equine somatotropin
on wound healing, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and endogenous somatotropin responses
to secretagogues in geldings. J Anim Sci
77:1815-1822.
- Rahmanian MS, DL Thompson Jr., PA Melrose. 1998.
Immunocytochemical localization of
luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone in the equine pituitary. J Anim Sci
76:839-846.
- Meintjes M, KJ Graff, D Paccamonti, BE Eilts, JB Paul, DL Thompson
Jr, MT Kearney, RA
Godke. 1997. Effects of follicular aspiration and flushing, and the genotype of the fetus on
circulating progesterone levels during pregnancy in the mare. Equine Vet J Suppl
25:25-32.
- Rahmanian MS, DL Thompson Jr., PA Melrose. 1997.
Immunocytochemical localization of
prolactin and growth hormone in the equine pituitary. J Anim Sci 75:3010-3018.
- Thompson DL Jr, CL DePew. 1997. Prolactin, gonadotropin, and
hair shedding responses
to daily sulpiride administration in geldings in winter. J Anim Sci 75:1087-1091.
- 82. Nadal MR, DL Thompson Jr, LA Kincaid. 1997. Effect of
feeding and feed deprivation
on plasma concentrations of prolactin, insulin, growth hormone, and metabolites in horses.
J
Anim Sci 75:736-744.
- Thompson DL Jr, R Hoffman, CL DePew. 1997. Prolactin
administration to seasonally
anestrous mares: Reproductive, metabolic, and hair-shedding responses. J Anim Sci
75:1092-1099.
- Sticker LS, DL Thompson Jr, JM Fernandez, LD Bunting. 1996.
Dietary protein and energy
restriction in mares: Rapid changes in plasma metabolite and hormone concentrations
during dietary alteration. J Anim Sci 74:1326-1335.
- Sticker LS, DL Thompson Jr, LD Bunting, JM Fernandez, CL DePew.
1995. Dietary protein
and(or) energy restriction in mares: Plasma glucose, insulin, nonesterified fatty acid, and
urea nitrogen responses to feeding, glucose, and epinephrine. J Anim Sci 73:136-144.
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