Dissolvable Silk Fibroin Microneedle (SFµN) Patch for Long-Acting Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy

This paper reports a novel, long-acting thyroid hormone replacement therapy using a minimally invasive, transdermal, biocompatible, dissolvable silk fibroin microneedle (SFµN) patch. Computational simulation, microfabrication, and in-vitro study results were demonstrated in this work. The sustained release of levothyroxine sodium (LT4) was obtained using two methods: silk-based and drug-loaded microparticles (MPs) based µNs. According to the simulations, the silk-based µN patch stabilizes the drug and provides hormone therapy for 8 months whereas the drug-loaded MPs µNs provide therapy over 20 months. This minimally invasive, SFµN technology shows tremendous promise to replace conventional treatments for thyroid disease.