Current Trends in Niosome as Vesicular Drug Delivery System

Design and development of novel drug delivery system (NDDS) has two prerequisites. First, it should deliver the drug in accordance with a predetermined rate and second it should release therapeutically effective amount of drug at the site of action. Conventional dosage forms are unable to meet these requisites. Niosomes are essentially non-ionic surfactant-based multilamellar or unilamellar vesicles in which an aqueous solution of solute is entirely enclosed by a membrane resulting from the organisation of surfactant macromolecules as bilayer. They improve the therapeutic performance of the drug molecules by delayed clearance from the circulation, protecting the drug from biological environment and restricting effects to target cells. This article focuses on the recent advances in niosomal drug delivery, potential advantages over other delivery systems, formulation methods, methods of characterization and the current research in the field of niosomes.