Santha Sheela Natarajan Bhargavi

The exploitation of the various approaches in the pharmaceutical field to develop a therapeutically efficient drug delivery system has lead to the exploration of niosomes as a suitable novel drug delivery system. Niosomes are vesicular systems made up of non-ionic surfactants with or without cholesterol and a charge inducing agent. Niosomes are similar to liposomes in vivo. Niosomes offer the advantages of having good stability, minimized toxicity, minimized side effects and are also economically feasible. In the present study, the various aspects on niosomal drug delivery system like the composition, methods of preparation, characterization, free drug removal, evaluation methods and applications in pharmaceutical field are explored. Niosomal formulations have been extensively studied and has showed enhanced therapeutic activity in the administration of drugs, hormones, markers and vaccines intended for systemic, topical, transdermal, ocular and targeted drug delivery. Considerable proven research in this efficient drug delivery system offers a pronounced scope for enhanced research with more drugs for targeted and site-specific drug delivery.