Is Apigenin legal in the United Kingdom?

Sold as a CD38 inhibitor that defends the NAD pool, on the strength of one 2013 paper in cells and obese mice. No human study has ever measured whether apigenin changes CD38 activity or NAD in a person, and human plasma after a large dietary dose peaks in the nanomolar range.

Apigenin occupies a specific and growing niche in NAD marketing. The pitch is that instead of pushing more precursor in, you stop the leak: CD38 is the enzyme that consumes NAD and its activity rises with age, so inhibiting it should preserve NAD.

Mechanism: CD38 is a membrane-bound NAD glycohydrolase, one of the principal consumers of NAD in mammalian tissue, whose expression and activity rise with age and which is also the main enzyme degrading NMN in vivo. Inhibiting it raises intracellular NAD without supplying any precursor, which in turn increases sirtuin activity and reduces global protein acetylation.

Regulatory history: A dietary constituent of common foods, sold over the counter as a supplement. Not an approved drug for any indication, and no health claim relating to NAD, CD38 or ageing has been authorised.

Licenses medicines for the UK market. A compound without a marketing authorisation is an unlicensed medicine, which can only lawfully be supplied for human use through a prescriber under the specials scheme, not sold as a research product.

The classification above is the The Longevity Archive reading of Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency listings for Apigenin at the reviewed date, not a legal opinion. Rules change, and importing, prescribing and possessing a compound can each be treated differently. Check the regulator directly before acting on anything here.