Bilosomes as Emerging Nanovesicular Systems: Recent Progress, Applications and Challenges

Bilosomes are bile salt-containing vesicular nanocarriers that have attracted interest as drug-delivery systems because of their potential to improve the stability, permeability, and bioavailability of encapsulated therapeutics. They are generally composed of phospholipids and/or non-ionic surfactants together with bile salts, which can modify membrane properties and help vesicles withstand physiologically challenging environments. This review summarizes the definition, structural features, composition, advantages, limitations, preparation methods, characterization techniques, and therapeutic applications of bilosomes. Recent studies involving oral, topical, transdermal, buccal, and intranasal delivery are highlighted. Particular attention is given to their potential for improving the delivery of poorly soluble or poorly permeable compounds and to emerging applications in cancer, neurological disorders, and metabolic disease. Despite encouraging preclinical findings, challenges remain regarding physical stability, reproducibility, scale-up, process control, and the limited amount of clinical evidence. Further systematic in vivo studies, standardized manufacturing approaches, and well-designed clinical investigations are needed to establish the translational potential of bilosomal drug-delivery systems.