Is Methotrexate legal in Australia?

The best available test of whether suppressing chronic inflammation extends life. In a large human cardiovascular trial it did not reduce events, and in mouse lifespan testing it did not extend lifespan.

Inflammaging, the idea that low-grade chronic inflammation drives age-related disease, is one of the most widely accepted frameworks in geroscience. Methotrexate is the most-used disease-modifying anti-inflammatory drug in medicine, so it is the natural way to test whether turning inflammation down extends healthy life.

Mechanism: At high oncology doses it inhibits dihydrofolate reductase, starving cells of reduced folate needed for DNA synthesis, which is a cytotoxic effect. At the low weekly doses used in rheumatoid arthritis the mechanism is different and centres on inhibition of aminoimidazole carboxamide ribonucleotide transformylase, causing adenosine accumulation, which is anti-inflammatory.

Regulatory history: FDA-approved for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and several cancers. Not approved for cardiovascular prevention or any ageing indication.

Registers or lists therapeutic goods on the ARTG and schedules substances in the Poisons Standard. Many peptides are Schedule 4 (prescription only), so possession without a prescription and personal importation are restricted even when no product is registered.

The classification above is the The Longevity Archive reading of Therapeutic Goods Administration listings for Methotrexate 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.