BPC-157 | A potential breakthrough in injury repair

What is BPC-157?

Studies suggest that BPC-157 may be beneficial in protecting organs - especially the stomach - and assisting with the healing of various injuries. Because of this many athletes are turning to BPC-157 to help recover from injury.

BPC-157, also known as Bepecin, is a synthetic peptide. A peptide is a small chain of amino acids, BPC-157 consists of a sequence of 15 amino acids. BPC-157 is derived from a protective protein found in human stomachs. As it is not found in nature it is considered ‘synthetic’, however it is derived from ‘natural’ components.

What evidence is there that it works?

The animal studies on BPC-157 appear very promising, it shows potential as a therapy to aid recovery in soft tissues, tendons and ligaments. In these same studies very few negative side effects have been observed, however these are not human studies, so caution should be exercised when extrapolating these results onto humans. Extra care should be exercised if consuming BPC-157 as the potential for negative side effects in humans is not fully understood (1).

For tendon and ligament repair

Due to low blood circulation, tendons and ligaments tend to not heal very well. In one study, the Achilles tendon in rats was cut and BPC-157 was administered to these rats. Healing in the group of rats administered BPC-157 was significantly improved compared to a control group (2). Another studs found similar results when the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of rats was cut and BPC-157 was administered (3).

Further studies have also demonstrated BPC-157 helps with tendon to bone repair (4).

For skeletal muscle healing

Skeletal muscle is the muscle we use in voluntary movement – and that which is most commonly injured in sports. It is one of the 3 major muscle groups, the other two being cardiac muscle (the muscle in the heart) and smooth muscle (muscle which is not under conscious control, such as those lining our intestines).

In another rat study, the quadricep muscle in rats was cut and BPC-157 was administered. The rats given BPC-157 again showed significant improvements in healing (5).

In addition to healing muscle injury from trauma, studies suggest that BPC-157 may also be effective in healing other systemic muscle problems. Muscle wasting and damage can be caused by many factors including infection, certain diseases or medications. For example stomach lesions can be caused by taking too much ibuprofen.

Various animal studies have demonstrated BPC-157’s ability to assist in muscle repair processes in the instance of:

· Stomach lesions (6)

· Potassium overdose (7)

· Inflammatory bowel disease (8)

· Overdose of anesthetic (9)

· Magnesium overdose (10)

· Weight loss in cancer patients (11)

How does it work?

It is still not fully understood how BPC-157 works however it is believed to act on a number of pathways, including the nitric oxide pathway (12) , the FAK-paxillan pathway (13), and upregulation of growth hormone receptors (14).

What are the risks?

There is no known toxicity level for BPC-157 and significant negative side-effects have not been observed. In addition BPC-157 is derived from human gastric juices and therefore is potentially safer that other peptides or drugs which are derived from non-human sources. However caution should still be exercised.

There are only a small number of studies on BPC-157 and almost all of these have been performed in rodents, so the risks for humans are not known. The mechanism of action is also not fully understood.

Some concern has been raised that some peptides and growth factors may promote cancerous tumor growth, however no evidence has been shown to suggest this is the case with BPC-157. In addition BPC-157 has been shown to inhibit and counteract several tumor lines (15).

how is it taken?

BPC-157 can be purchased in many forms, as an injection, a cream and as a tablet.

One study compared the effectiveness of injection versus a local treatment using a cream. Both treatments were administered to two different groups of rats who had their muscles crushed, both methods of treatment proved effective (16). Additionally BPC-157 appears to be effective when taken by mouth (17).

BPC-157 is usually taken daily therefore taking by mouth is preferred by most. It avoids the need for a daily injection - and the associated risks which come with any injection - such as pain at the site of injection or possible infection.

The oral dose which was effective in rats translates to approximately 100-200ug for a person per day.

REFERENCES

1) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00441-019-03016-8

2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14554208/

3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20225319/

4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16583442/

5) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16609979/

6) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0928425799001205

7) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23327997/

8) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24304574/

9) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27060013/

10) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28210905/