Thyroid hormone stimulation of lipolysis and cyclic adenosine 3', 5'-monophosphate accumulation in human adipose tissue

The role of thyroid hormones on lipolysis in human subcutaneous adipose tissue was investigated. Incubation of subcutaneous fat pads with thyroxine (0.1--10 000 nM) augmented the subsequent isoproterenol stimulation of lipolysis, measured by glycerol release. The basal lipolysis could not by stimulated by thyroxine. The theophylline- and dibutyryl-cyclic AMP stimulated lipolysis also could not be increased by thyroxine at these concentrations. In separate studies, the effect of thyroxine (0.01 pM--1 microM) and triiodothyronine (0.01 pM--1 microM) on cyclic AMP accumulation was examined. No effect of thyroid hormones on cyclic AMP accumulation was seen in non-isoproterenol stimulated tissue. Fat pads stimulated by isoproterenol and then treated with thyroid hormones showed marked increases in accumulation of cyclic AMP as compared to control tissue in the presence of isoproterenol alone.