Solubility Enhancement of Drugs with Aid of Surfactants: Research Done Since Last Two Decades

Pharmaceutical Science-Pharmaceutics for novel drug Formulations

Abstract

This review aims to explore the past work done on the solubility enhancement of drugs using surfactants. Surfactants plays an important part in many routes of interest in both essential and practical science. The most vital function of surfactant is the formation of micelle in solution, which has specific significance in medicine because of their ability to improve the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs, which need high doses to extend therapeutic plasma levels after oral administration. Poor water solubility is the major issue met with the formulation development of new chemical objects. A drug taken by the patient should present in the solution form at the site of absorption. The use of surfactants to elevate the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs has been employed.  Surfactants  can reduce  surface  tension  and improve  the dissolution  of lipophilic  drugs in the aqueous medium. When the levels of surfactants surpass their critical micelle concentration it deceives the drugs within the micelles. The authors collected sufficient literature on work done on the solubility enhancement of drugs using surfactants and presented in this paper. The authors conclude that this quick reference will be helpful for researchers in finding the literature on solubility enhancement of drugs using surfactants on a single click.