Nanostructured cubosomes as a platform for oral drug delivery.

Cubosomes are formed by amphiphilic molecules, with the bicontinuous contortions of inter-connecting hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains. The inner cubic-phase structure of cubosomes makes it an attractive drug-delivery system in pharmaceutical applications. This review mainly describes the potential applications of cubosomes as a drug delivery system for oral administration, highlights the mechanisms involved in the transcellular transport and digestive process, challenges involved in formulation development and evaluations of the in vivo and in vitro study. As pointed out throughout this review, a number of critical points on cubosome products need to be solved in order to attain practical applications.