Name : Mourad shawky Nawar

ID : 747
Niosomes

Definition: Niosomes (non-ionic surfactant vesicles)

obtained on hydration are microscopic lamellar structures
formed upon combining non-ionic surfactant of the alkyl
or dialkyl polyglycerol ether class with cholesterol.
2- The non-ionic surfactants form a closed bilayer vesicle
in aqueous media based on its amphiphilic nature using
some energy for instance heat, physical agitation to form
this structure. In the bilayer structure, hydrophobic parts
are oriented away from the aqueous solvent, whereas the
hydrophilic heads remain in contact with the aqueous
solvent.
3-The properties of the vesicles can be changed by
varying the composition of the vesicles, size, lamellarity,
tapped volume, surface charge and concentration.
Various forces act inside the vesicle, eg, van der Waals
forces among surfactant molecules, repulsive forces
emerging from the electrostatic interactions among
charged groups of surfactant molecules, entropic
repulsive forces of the head groups of surfactants, shortacting repulsive forces.

Priliposomes
Definition: Proliposomes are phospholipid based drug
delivery systems that are finding important applications
in the field of pharmaceutics. Proliposomes have been
extensively studied as a potential carrier for oral delivery
of drugs with poor bioavailability, but the mechanism of

absorption and cellular uptake pathways has not yet been

clearly understood.
2-An in-depth insight into the physical and biological
behavior of proliposomes is necessary for designing an
effective delivery system for enhancing the availability of
drug at the intended site.
3-Reformulation of sub optimal drugs using proliposomes
has given an opportunity to improve the therapeutic
indices of various drugs predominantly by altering their
uptake mechanism. This work reviews the proliposomal
drug delivery field, summarizes the success of
proliposomes for the oral delivery of drugs with poor
bioavailability; indicating the key issues to be addressed
to affirm that proliposomes can effectively work as a drug
carrier in clinical settings with a clear understanding of its
behavior in biological environment, as they are now an
established platform technology with considerable clinical
acceptance.
Approach : Cancer is one of the major causes of death in spite
of a substantial increase in understanding of the molecular
mechanism behind its occurrence. Glioma is the type of brain
tumour which arises in the glial cells of the brain. Glioma is
categorized into three areas namely: astrocytoma,
oligodendroglioma and astro-oligodendroglioma (mixture of both).
Every year in UK approximately 2% of the brain tumour patient
are diagnosed with glioma therefore, it is very important to find a
remedy for treatment of this cancer. One of the interesting
properties of liposomes is their natural ability to target tumour. It
is the most extensively used biodegradable carriers and regarded
as the most promising ones in drug delivery (Katare et al., 1990;
Crommelin and Sindelar, 2002). Liposomes are very safe
adjuvants as they are manufactured from phospholipids that are
similar to the phospholipids present in the biological membranes.
Unfortunately, liposomes are chemically and physically unstable
and are difficult to manufacture on a large scale using the

conventional method of preparation (thin film method). However,

these stability problems can be avoided by formulating liposomes
using the proliposome method. Proliposomes are of two types,
namely, particulate-based proliposomes and solvent-based
proliposomes. Particulate proliposomes are dry, free-flowing
carrier particles coated with phospholipids that generate
liposomes on addition of aqueous phase (Payne et al 1986).
Secondly, a solvent based proliposome method offers a relatively
simple means of generating liposomes with a high entrapment of
hydrophilic agents, by the addition of aqueous phase to a
concentrated alcoholic solution of phospholipids (Perrett et al
1991). The aim of our project is to use phospholipids to
manufacture solvent-based proliposomes which can be used to
generate phospholipid vesicles (liposomes) when aqueous phase
(e.g. water) is added. Various phospholipids will be investigated
and the resultant size of the vesicles will be compared with the
conventional method of producing liposomes. The model
anticancer drugs will be entrapped in liposomes and the efficacy
of anticancer-liposome formulations on the viability of glioma cell
lines and molecular mechanism of the cell death will be
investigated.

Ethosomes

Definition: Ethosomes are phospholipid-based elastic

nanovesicles containing a high content of ethanol (20
45%). Ethanol is known as an efficient permeation
enhancer and has been added in the vesicular systems to
prepare elastic nanovesicles. It can interact with the polar
head group region of the lipid molecules, resulting in the
reduction of the melting point of the stratum corneum
lipid, thereby increasing lipid fluidity and cell membrane
permeability. The high flexibility of vesicular membranes
from the added ethanol permits the elastic vesicles to
squeeze themselves through the pores, which are much
smaller than their diameters. Ethosomal systems are
much more efficient in delivering substances to the skin
in the terms of quantity and depth, than either
conventional liposomes or hydroalcoholic solutions. The

scope of this small review is to introduce the novel

concept of ethosomes and to describe some approaches
and mechanisms of stimulating topical and transdermal
products with ethosomes.
Approach: A synergistic mechanism was suggested between ethanol,
vesicles, and skin lipids. The enhanced delivery of actives using
ethosomes over liposomes can be ascribed to an interaction between
ethosomes and skin lipids. A possible mechanism for this interaction has
been proposed.
, it is thought that the first part of the mechanism is due to the ethanol
effect, where ethanol interacts with the lipid molecules in the polar head
group region resulting in a reduction in the transition temperature of the
lipids in the stratum corneum, increasing their fluidity and decreasing
the density of the lipid multilayer. This is followed by the ethosome
effect, which includes lipid penetration and permeation by the opening
of new pathways, due to the malleability and fusion of ethosomes with
skin lipids, resulting in the release of the drug into the deep layers of the
skin. Ethanol may also provide vesicles with soft flexible characteristics,
which allow them to penetrate more easily into the deeper layers of the
skin. The release of the drug in the deep layers of the skin and its
transdermal absorption could then be the result of a fusion of ethosomes,
with skin lipids and drug release at various points along the penetration
pathway