Affiliations: [a] Hemofarm d.o.o., a Member of Stada Group, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina | [b] Centre for Biomedical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina | [c] Department of Endocrinology, Cantonal Hospital, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina | [d] Biotechnology and Drug Development Research Laboratory, School of Pharmacy, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia | [e] Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia | [f] Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Sanja Kecman, Hemofarm d.o.o. Banja Luka, Novakovići bb, 78000 Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tel.: +387 65519580; E-mail: sanja.kecman@hemofarm.com.
Abstract: In the last decade, the attention of the scientific community has been focused on bile acids and their salts as systems for the transportation of drugs; specifically their role as carriers and integration into nanomedicine. Bile acids can play a critical role as drug carriers in the form of chemical conjugates, complexation, mixed micelles formation as well as stabilized bile acid liposomes (bilosomes). The unique molecular structure and interaction of these amphiphilic-steroidal compounds make them an interesting subject of research. This review is based on literature research in order to emphasize the importance of bile acids and their salts as absorption modulators in order to improve therapeutic potentials of low bioavailability drugs.
Keywords: Bile acids, bilosomes, nano-structures, absorption enhancers, drug delivery
