Effects of diamide on basal and thyrotropin-stimulated thyroid metabolism

The effect of diamide on basal and TSH-stimulated thyroid metabolism was studied using bovine and dog thyroid slices. Diamide (10 mM) inhibited basal and TSH-stimulated net cAMP production, basal and cAMP-stimulated protein kinase activity, and stimulation by TSH of colloid droplet formation and organification of iodide and abolished basal and TSH-stimulated uptake of 32P into phospholipids. In thyroid slices incubated with 0.1 mM diamide, none of these activities, whether basal or TSH-stimulated, was affected. However, 0.1 mM diamide increased the net basal production of cAMP and potentiated the effect of TSH on this process. These results demonstrate that the previously reported inhibition of protein kinase by 2-20 mM diamide is not specific and that this compound cannot be used to determine which of the metabolic effects of TSH are dependent upon cAMP activation of protein kinase. While 0.1 mM diamide increased cAMP in thyroid slices, it did not reproduce any of the other effects of TSH.