ABSTRACT
The ability of a wide range of synthetic surface active molecules to form vesicular structures in aqueous media presents several opportunities—first to consider the structural features which determine vesicle formation and properties, second to use the vesicles as alternatives to liposomes, and third to explore the possibility of molecularly tailoring a range of vesicle characteristics. A recent report of reversed vesicles 1 formed from synthetic surfactants is a case in point. This chapter is restricted principally to a discussion of non-ionic surface active agents and the unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles (variously called nonionic surfactant vesicles, NSVs, or niosomes) which they form, usually in the presence of cholesterol or other steroid. It will also describe some recent work carried out in our laboratories on doxorubicin delivery.
