Is Young Plasma Infusion legal in the United Kingdom?

Plasma from donors aged 18 to 30 infused into older people. The one randomised trial enrolled 18 patients with Alzheimer disease and was powered for safety, not effect. FDA published a consumer warning about clinics selling it in February 2019.

The idea comes from heterochronic parabiosis, an experiment in which the circulatory systems of a young and an old mouse are joined. A 2011 Nature paper showed that blood-borne factors in an old systemic environment suppress neurogenesis and impair learning and memory in young mice, and that the reverse direction produces the opposite effect.

Mechanism: Not established in humans. In mice, plasma from young animals carries factors including TIMP2, platelet factor 4, Gpld1 and clusterin that improve hippocampal plasticity, neurogenesis and cognition, while old plasma carries factors including CCL11 and beta-2 microglobulin that impair them.

Regulatory history: Plasma is a licensed blood component with defined clinical indications in coagulation and plasma exchange. Infusion for ageing, memory loss or neurodegeneration is not an approved use. FDA published a consumer warning about clinics selling it on 19 February 2019.

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 Young Plasma Infusion 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.