From conventional towards new - natural surfactants in drug delivery systems design: current status and perspectives.
BACKGROUND
Surfactants play an important role in the development of both conventional and advanced (colloidal) drug delivery systems. There are several commercial surfactants, but a proportionally small group of them is approved as pharmaceutical excipients, recognized in various pharmacopoeias and therefore widely accepted by the pharmaceutical industry.


METHODS
The review covers some of the main categories of natural, sugar-based surfactants (alkyl polyglucosides and sugar esters) as prospective pharmaceutical excipients. It provides analysis of the physicochemical characteristics of sugar-based surfactants and their possible roles in the design of conventional or advanced drug delivery systems for different routes of administration.


RESULTS
Summary and analysis of recent data on functionality, applied concentrations and formulation improvements produced by alkyl polyglucosides and sugar esters in different conventional and advanced delivery systems could be of interest to researchers dealing with drug formulation.


CONCLUSIONS
Recent FDA certification of an alkyl polyglucoside surfactant for topical formulation presents a significant step in the process of recognition of this relatively new group of surfactants. This could trigger further research into the potential benefits of naturally derived materials in both conventional and new drug delivery systems.
Savić
Snezana
S
University of Belgrade, Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology and Cosmetology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Belgrade Vojvode Stepe 450, Belgrade, Serbia. snexs@pharmacy.bg.ac.rs
Tamburić
Slobodanka
S
Savić
Miroslav M
MM
D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry; D003102:Colloids; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D002241:Carbohydrates; D003102:Colloids; D013501:Surface-Active Agents