Abstract

Near-infrared light improves local drug diffusion and enhances therapeutic efficacy. • The therapy restores thyroid hormone balance and tissue structure while alleviating liver injury. • The system reduces oxidative stress and apoptosis, providing a safer alternative to oral treatment. Hyperthyroidism treatment with antithyroid drugs such as Thiamazole is often limited by systemic adverse effects and poor therapeutic specificity during long-term oral administration. To overcome these limitations, we designed Thiamazole-loaded mesoporous carbon nanohybrid microneedles (MN-T@MCN) as a minimally invasive, locally enhanced transdermal delivery platform. The MN-T@MCN system exhibited strong mechanical integrity, high transparency, rapid dissolution, and near-infrared-triggered photothermal-enhances drug diffusion. In vitro, MN-T@MCN effectively reduced reactive oxygen species and suppressed lipid peroxidation and apoptosis in PMA-induced thyroid epithelial cells. In vivo, it restored thyroid follicular structure, normalized serum T3/T4/TSH levels, and mitigated hepatic injury in L-thyroxine–induced hyperthyroid rats. Notably, NIR stimulation further improved transdermal delivery efficiency and accelerated local drug diffusion, enhancing therapeutic efficacy. Additionally, MN-T@MCN attenuated oxidative stress and regulated apoptosis-related proteins (Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3) in thyroid and liver tissues. Overall, this study presents a safe, responsive microneedle-based strategy for hyperthyroidism treatment, offering a promising alternative to conventional oral therapy while reducing hepatotoxicity risks Download: Download high-res image (127KB) Download: Download full-size image