ABSTRACT
The use of colloids in the pharmaceutical sciences has grown rapidly over the last several decades and is expected to accelerate in the future. One area of importance is the newly developed polypeptide chemotherapeutic agents and their delivery in the form of colloidal dispersions by convenient methods of administration. A second area is the use of colloidal dispersions for drug delivery, which was reviewed recently. A third area of importance is the use of colloidal systems as pharmaceutical excipients, product components, vehicles, and carriers. Water-based polymer latexes have found application in a wide range of pharmaceutical-coating applications. The chapter reviews the underlying principles of colloidal science, in particular, the adsorption of ionic surfactants and the electrostatic stabilization of colloidal sols and dispersions; the adsorption of nonionic surfactants and the steric stabilization of colloidal sols and dispersions; the preparation of pseudolatexes by emulsification.
