Vesicular Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

Pharmacosomes are the colloidal dispersions of drugs covalently bound to lipids and may exist as ultrafine vesicular, micellar or hexagonal aggregates, depending on the chemical structure of the drug lipid complex. The term pharmacosomes is explicitly used to describe the zwitterion, amphiphilic stoichiometric complexes of polyphenolic compounds with phospholipids. The system is formed by linking a drug (pharmakon) to a carrier (soma), they are called pharmacosomes. Pharmacosomes can pass through biomembranes efficiently and possess advantages over the use of other vesicular systems such as transferosomes liposomes and noisome. Pharmacososmes are design to avoid the unusual problems associated with the liposomal entrapment of polar drug molecules like low drug incorporation, leakage and solubility. This chapter includes the basic introduction, applications, method of preparation, characterisation, advantages, some research experiences and future prospects of pharmacosomes.