Niosomes as Transdermal Drug Delivery System

attempting to improve the efficiency of utilization of drugs for treatment of various diseases. In this endeavour, drug delivery systems have helped greatly by achieving reduced dose, dosage frequency, and side effects; better patient compliance; and maximum concentration of the drug at the target site. Recent years have seen an unprecedented growth in the use of nanotechnology in designing drug delivery systems. Use of nanostructured drug delivery systems has changed the landscape of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Nanocarriers offer advantages such as, (1) encapsulation and prevention of the drug from degradation, (2) improved delivery of poorly water soluble drugs, (3) targeted drug delivery, (4) co-delivery of multiples drugs with varying solubility or modes of action, (5) controlled release, and (6) production on a large scale (Farokhzad and Langer, 2009). Drug delivery systems have been synthesized using substances varying from molecules of biological origin to inorganic or chemically synthesized substances. Biological molecules that have been used include, gelatin, albumin and chemical substances include various polymers and solid metal-containing NPs. Organic nanoplatforms include liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, polymer-drug conjugates, polymeric micelles, hydrogel nanoparticles, proteinbased nanoparticles, and dendrimers; whereas inorganic platforms include noble metal nanoparticles, superparamagnetic nanoparticles, ceramic nanoparticles, carbon-based nanomaterials, and integrated nanocomposite particles (Bamrungsap et al., 2012).