Basics and Potential Applications of Surfactants- A Review

ABSTRACT: Surfactants plays a vital role in various drug delivery. To formulate compounds sparingly soluble in water, pharmaceutically acceptable cosolvents or surfactants are typically employed to increase solubility. Polymeric micelles made by surfactants have a whole set of unique characteristics, which make them a very promising drug carriers for a wide range of drugs. The low solubility in biological fluids displayed by about 50 % of the drugs still remains the main limitation in oral, parenteral, and transdermal administration. Among the existing strategies to overcome these drawbacks, inclusion of hydrophobic drugs into polymeric micelles which composed of surfactants are one of the most attractive alternatives. This article reviews about the surfactants, their basics explaining the mechanism to form micelles and its applications related to various site of action