Is Piperlongumine legal in Canada?

A long pepper alkaloid identified in a 2016 screen as a senolytic in cultured human fibroblasts. Everything published about its senolytic activity is in cells or rats. No human study of piperlongumine for any indication was located.

Piperlongumine is a natural alkaloid amide from the long pepper, Piper longum. It came out of the same cell-based screening programme at the University of Florida that identified ABT-263 as a senolytic: piperlongumine preferentially killed senescent human WI-38 fibroblasts whether senescence had been induced by radiation, by replicative exhaustion or by oncogenic Ras, and it did so by inducing apoptosis without requiring a rise in reactive oxygen species.

Mechanism: Established in cultured human cells: piperlongumine selectively induces apoptosis in senescent fibroblasts, and the alpha,beta-unsaturated lactam acts as a Michael acceptor that is required for the senolytic effect. It synergises with ABT-263 in cell culture.

Regulatory history: Not approved for any indication. No registered human trial located. Sold as a research chemical and present in long pepper extracts marketed as supplements, which is not the same as a characterised dose of the isolated compound.

Authorises drugs for sale through a Notice of Compliance and Drug Identification Number. A compound that is not authorised for sale cannot lawfully be sold for human use, and personal importation of prescription drugs is limited.

The classification above is the The Longevity Archive reading of Health Canada, Health Products and Food Branch listings for Piperlongumine 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.