Is NDGA legal in the United Kingdom?

Extended male mouse lifespan at three different doses, dose-dependently, and never in females. It also causes liver toxicity, which is why the plant it comes from was pulled from the supplement market.

NDGA is a plant lignan from the creosote bush, and it has a rare distinction in lifespan research: its effect was replicated across three separate doses within the same programme, dose-dependently, which very few compounds manage. It is also hepatotoxic, and that is not a theoretical concern.

Mechanism: A lignan with multiple reported activities, which is part of the interpretive problem. It inhibits lipoxygenase enzymes, acts as an antioxidant, and has been reported to affect insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor signalling and mitochondrial function.

Regulatory history: Not approved for any systemic indication. Masoprocol, a topical formulation, held an approval for actinic keratoses. Chaparral, the herbal product from the same plant, has been the subject of regulatory warnings over liver injury.

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 NDGA 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.