BILOSOMES: EMERGING VESICULAR CARRIERS IN DRUG DELIVERY -A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Recently, several nano-vesicular delivery systems such as liposomes, nanoparticles, and niosomes have been developed to enhance drug delivery. However, their effectiveness—particularly through biological routes like oral, transdermal, and nasal administration—is often limited by physiological barriers such as pH variations, bile salts, and metabolic enzymes. Bilosomes—non-ionic surfactant-based nanovesicles incorporating bile salts— represent an advanced alternative capable of protecting drugs from degradation and improving bioavailability through multiple administration routes. The combination of non-ionic surfactants and bile salts enhances bilosomal stability, flexibility, and tissue penetration, allowing them to efficiently cross biological barriers. Bilosomes have demonstrated strong potential for delivering vaccines, biological therapeutics, and small- molecule drugs via oral, transdermal, nasal, ocular, and parenteral routes. This review outlines the unique characteristics, composition, preparation, and evaluation methods of bilosomes, emphasizing factors influencing their performance. It also discusses their broad therapeutic applications, the impact of formulation variables on efficacy, and future prospects including clinical translation and commercialization.