Viscum album L. (Santalaceae), also known as European mistletoe, is a semi-parasitic plant that grows on different host trees. Our group recently demonstrated the antitumoral activity of ethanolic V. album extracts in vitro, depending on the dose and the host tree, V. album ssp abietis from Abies alba being the most active extract. The goal of this work focused on the development of a new topical formulation containing V. album extracts, evaluation of in vitro toxicity and ex vivo skin permeation assays. The Poloxamer 407 hydrogel containing 5% of dry (VA_DEH) or aqueous (VA_AEH) extract presented dermal compatible pH and microbiological stability for 180 days. The hydrogels flow curve presented a non-linear relation, characteristic of non-Newtonian fluids, and the mean viscosity for the VA_DEH and VA_AEH was 372.5 ± 7.78 and 331.0 ± 2.83 Pa.s, respectively, being statistically different (Welch’s t test; p < 0.01). Additionally, WST-1 in vitro assays revealed a dose-dependent toxicity for both formulations and VA_DEH presented a higher activity than the VA_AEH. The promising cytotoxic potential of VA_DEH lead to the ex vivo skin permeation assay with 2.73 ± 0.19 µg/cm2 of chlorogenic acid, which permeated at 8 h, showing a transdermal potential. These in vitro results support the idea that VA_DEH is a novel promising candidate for mistletoe therapy. Therefore, further in vivo and pre-clinical experiments should be performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this new dermic delivery system.

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Compositae is the largest family of flowering plants, with more than 1600 genera and 22 000 species. It has many economic uses in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutics. The literature reports its numerous medicinal benefits and recognized anti-inflammatory activity. Thus, this study evaluated the technological trends of anti-inflammatory activity of Compositae, based on the survey of scientific databases, articles, and patents, as well as the website of the Brazilian National Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA), which is responsible for registering and controlling of healthcare and cosmetic products in the Brazil. The survey was conducted between 2008 and 2018, in the databases Science Direct, Lilacs, PubMed, and Web of Science (main collection), as well as the SciELO Citation Index. The patent survey was carried out on the basis of the Derwent Innovations Index, an important source for worldwide patent consultation, which covers 20 y of registered patents. Despite the numerous studies involving species of the Compositae family in different models of anti-inflammatory activity, there are few records of patents or products on the market from these species for that purpose. Some species have a traditional use and are present even in the Phytotherapic Summary of the Brazilian Pharmacopeia. This review confirms the therapeutic potential of Compositae for the development of anti-inflammatory drugs and reinforces the need to develop competencies and reduce technological bottlenecks to promote research and innovation in biodiversity products.