Locamidazole (LAMZ) for Bone and Muscle: What the Research Shows and What You Can Source Today

Locamidazole (LAMZ) is an experimental compound that strengthened both muscle and bone in mice by mimicking the cell signaling that exercise triggers. It was identified by Professor Tomoki Nakashima's team at Tokyo Medical and Dental University and published in Bone Research in 2022 (Ono et al., 2022). Social media posts now describe it as a Japanese pill that "regrows bone" and "may reverse osteoporosis." This article explains what the study actually tested, what it did not, and which bone and muscle ingredients have human evidence today.

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Key Takeaways

• LAMZ is an aminoindazole compound found by screening 296 compounds for ones that build muscle cells, build bone-forming cells and suppress bone-resorbing cells at the same time.
• Given orally to mice for 14 days, it increased muscle fiber width and bone mass, and it protected both tissues in mice whose hind legs were unloaded.
• It works through calcium signaling, Mef2c and PGC-1α, the same pathway that exercise switches on, which is why the authors call it an exercise mimic.
• All results so far come from cells and mice. There are no published human trials, and the study did not test a standard osteoporosis model, so "reverses osteoporosis" is not supported yet.
• For products you can sell today, vitamin D with calcium and creatine with resistance training have human evidence for fractures and muscle respectively.

What Is Locamidazole?

Locamidazole is the name the researchers gave to a compound labeled "17b" in a commercial chemical library. The name combines "locomotor" with its chemical backbone, aminoindazole (Ono et al., 2022). Its closest relative tested in the study is linifanib, an aminoindazole kinase inhibitor (PubChem). Linifanib was developed as a cancer drug and did not meet its main survival goal in a phase III trial in advanced liver cancer (Cainap et al., 2015). In the LAMZ study, linifanib also increased muscle fiber width and bone mass in mice, suggesting the effect is shared by this chemical family.

What the Study Found

• Screening: of 296 library compounds, 8 boosted muscle cell growth or maturation. LAMZ was the strongest promoter of muscle fiber formation, the strongest booster of bone-forming osteoblasts, and the strongest suppressor of bone-resorbing osteoclasts among those 8.
• Healthy mice: 10 mg/kg once a day by mouth for 14 days increased muscle fiber width, bone mass and maximal muscle strength, and the mice ran on a treadmill with fewer signs of fatigue. The authors reported no obvious side effects in blood counts or other tissues over that period.
• Disuse model: in mice with their hind legs suspended, which weakens both muscle and bone, LAMZ increased muscle fiber width and bone mass and reduced bone resorption.
• Human cells: LAMZ also promoted human muscle cells and bone-forming stem cells in the lab.
• Mechanism: blocking calcium signaling, Mef2c or PGC-1α cancelled the effects, showing LAMZ acts through the pathway exercise uses.

Fact Check: The Social Media Claims

Claim	What the evidence shows
"Japan has developed a pill"	Partly true. It is an experimental compound given orally to mice, not a pill approved or tested in people.
"Regrows bone"	It increased bone mass in young mice and in a disuse model over 14 days. Regrowing lost human bone has not been shown.
"May even reverse osteoporosis"	Not tested. The study did not use a standard osteoporosis model such as estrogen loss or aging, and there are no human data.
"Works on bone and muscle at the same time"	True in mice. This is the study's main finding.
"No other bone drug can"	The authors note that approved osteoporosis drugs act mainly on bone and that no drug is approved for age-related muscle loss. Several approved drugs do build bone, so the novelty is the combined effect, not bone building itself.

What Has Human Evidence Today

LAMZ is years away from any product, if it ever reaches one. Brands building bone and muscle formulas today can rely on ingredients with human trials:

• Vitamin D with calcium: a Cochrane review of 53 trials found high-quality evidence that vitamin D plus calcium slightly lowers the risk of hip fracture and of any fracture in older adults. Vitamin D alone, in the doses tested, was unlikely to prevent fractures (Avenell et al., 2014).
• Creatine with resistance training: a 2025 meta-analysis of 8 trials in older adults found that creatine plus resistance training increased lean mass and leg strength more than training alone (Liu et al., 2025). A 2026 meta-analysis in postmenopausal women found small gains in lean mass and strength at 5 g per day or more with training, but no clear effect on bone density (Naddafha et al., 2026).

Keep claims within what these studies support. Structure-function claims on US supplements must be truthful and not claim to treat or prevent disease, such as osteoporosis or sarcopenia.

Sourcing for Research and Formulation

1. Research compounds: LAMZ itself is not a catalog item at Parchem. Labs studying the aminoindazole family can source Linifanib for research and development use only.
2. Vitamin D3: choose the form for your process, such as dry stabilized powder (100,000 IU/g) for tablets and capsules or Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol), and ask for the IU per gram on the COA.
3. Calcium: specify the salt and grade, such as Calcium Carbonate, and check elemental calcium content and heavy metals.
4. Creatine monohydrate: specify mesh size for your format, such as Creatine Monohydrate or Creatine Monohydrate 200 Mesh, and ask for purity and impurity results, such as dicyandiamide and creatinine.

Building a bone or muscle support product? Request a quote with lot documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Locamidazole Available as a Supplement or Drug?

No. Locamidazole is an experimental compound studied only in cells and mice. It is not an approved drug or a dietary ingredient.

Does Locamidazole Reverse Osteoporosis?

That hasn't been shown. The 2022 study increased bone mass in young mice and in a disuse model over 14 days, but it did not test an osteoporosis model or people.

Who Discovered Locamidazole?

A team led by Professor Tomoki Nakashima at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (now part of Institute of Science Tokyo), published in Bone Research in 2022.

What Supplements Have Evidence for Bone and Muscle?

Vitamin D with calcium lowered fracture risk slightly in older adults, and creatine with resistance training increased lean mass and strength in older adults in meta-analyses of human trials.

Source Bone and Muscle Ingredients With Parchem

Parchem supplies Vitamin D3, dry stabilized (100,000 IU/g), Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol), Calcium Carbonate, Creatine Monohydrate and Creatine Monohydrate 200 Mesh, with lot documentation for every shipment. Request a quote.

Sources

• Ono T, Denda R, Tsukahara Y, et al. Simultaneous augmentation of muscle and bone by locomomimetism through calcium-PGC-1α signaling. Bone Res, 2022.
• Cainap C, Qin S, Huang WT, et al. Linifanib versus Sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: results of a randomized phase III trial. J Clin Oncol, 2015.
• Avenell A, Mak JC, O'Connell D. Vitamin D and vitamin D analogues for preventing fractures in post-menopausal women and older men. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2014.
• Liu S, Huang N, Wu W, et al. The impact of creatine supplementation associated with resistance training on muscular strength and lean tissue mass in the aged: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Rev Aging Phys Act, 2025.
• Naddafha S, et al. Creatine monohydrate for lean mass, strength, and bone density in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2026.
• PubChem, Linifanib (CID 11485656).
• Header image: Femur (caput femoris), bone structure detail by MAKY.OREL, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.