Surfactants play a crucial role in pharmacy, mainly reflected in improving drug formulation performance, enhancing drug delivery efficiency, optimizing drug physicochemical properties, and improving stability. Its application changes the interaction between drugs and mediators through physical or chemical mechanisms, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy and safety.
1、 Optimization of drug preparation process In the process of drug formulation, surfactants are often used as emulsifiers, wetting agents, and stabilizers. For example, in the emulsion preparation, the surfactant forms a stable lotion by reducing the interfacial tension between oil and water to ensure the uniform dispersion of drugs; For tablets or granules, their wetting effect can accelerate drug disintegration and dissolution, especially suitable for hydrophobic drugs. In addition, particle aggregation and sedimentation can be prevented in the suspension, improving the clarity of the formulation.
2、 Construction of Targeted Drug Delivery System Surfactants are used as carrier materials in novel delivery systems such as nanoparticles and liposomes. Surfactants such as polysorbates can form micelles to encapsulate drugs and enhance the passive targeting of tumor tissues (EPR effect). In oral delivery, bile acid salt surfactants can promote the penetration of large molecule drugs through the intestinal mucosal barrier and improve bioavailability.
3、 Drug dissolution and absorption enhancement For poorly soluble drugs such as BCS class II, surfactants enhance solubility through micelle solubilization mechanism. For example, poloxamer 188 can embed drug molecules into the hydrophilic shell of micelles, achieving solubilization. At the same time, it alters the rheological properties of the mucosal mucus layer, promoting drug transmembrane transport, which is significantly effective in eye drops and transdermal formulations.
4、 Drug stability regulation technology Surfactants protect drugs by forming liquid crystal phases or microcapsule structures. In protein drug formulations, polyoxyethylene surfactants inhibit protein aggregation and denaturation; In the antioxidant system, the directional arrangement structure formed can block oxygen from contacting the active ingredients of the drug and delay the oxidative degradation process. This protective effect is particularly important during the reconstitution process of freeze-dried formulations.