BPC-157

Also known as: Body Protection Compound 157, PL 14736, PL-10, Bepecin

Evidence: Preclinical

PeptideLab is an educational platform for learning about peptides. The information here is for educational and research purposes only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and PeptideLab does not claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. Many peptides discussed have not been approved for human use by the FDA or other regulatory bodies. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any health-related decision.

Overview

Synthetic pentadecapeptide derived from a protective protein found in human gastric juice; accelerates tendon, muscle and gut healing in rodent models.

BPC-157 (PL 14736, bepecin) is a synthetic 15-residue peptide whose sequence comes from a fragment of a protein in human gastric juice. The evidence base is almost entirely rodent: transected rat Achilles tendon and medial collateral ligament healed faster by biomechanical, functional and histological measures at 10 mcg/kg or 10 ng/kg intraperitoneally (Staresinic 2003; Cerovecki 2010), and it raises VEGFR2 expression and blood flow recovery in rat hindlimb ischemia (Hsieh 2017). No completed randomized human trial has been published; human data are three uncontrolled pilot reports totalling under 30 subjects (McGuire 2025). FDA placed BPC-157 in category 2 of its 503A compounding interim policy, the significant-safety-risk list; the nomination was later withdrawn by the nominator and the entry now sits in the withdrawn table on the same page.

Benefits

Tendon, ligament and muscle healing in animal models, gastrointestinal mucosal protection, reduced inflammation, neuroprotective and dopamine-system effects in rodents

Dosing reference

Research dose: 250 to 500 mcg daily: research-community range, no published human dose-finding study. Rodent studies used 10 mcg/kg and 10 ng/kg intraperitoneally
Range: 250 to 500 mcg, 1-2x daily
Reconstitution: 2 mL bacteriostatic water
Common vial sizes: 5 mg, 10 mg

Subcutaneous or intramuscular in research use; also active per-orally in rats (0.16 mcg/mL in drinking water healed transected ligament; Cerovecki 2010). Injection near the injury is community practice, not a published comparison. Plasma half-life is under 30 min in rat and dog with linear kinetics, and intramuscular bioavailability is 14 to 19% in rats and 45 to 51% in beagles (He 2022), so the long-lasting effects seen in animals are not explained by exposure.

Mechanism

Proposed mechanisms, all from animal and cell work. BPC-157 increases VEGFR2 expression and promotes its internalization, activating the VEGFR2-Akt-eNOS pathway; blocking endocytosis with dynasore abolished the effect in human endothelial cells, and treated rats recovered hindlimb blood flow faster (Hsieh 2017). In rat Achilles tendon fibroblasts it raised growth hormone receptor mRNA and protein dose-dependently, and added growth hormone then increased proliferation through JAK2 (Chang 2014). It also increased tendon fibroblast outgrowth, survival under oxidative stress and migration, with dose-dependent phosphorylation of FAK and paxillin (Chang 2011). Effects on dopaminergic, serotonergic and GABAergic signaling are reported in rodent behavioral models and are not established in humans.

Evidence

Preclinical: animal or in vitro data only

Transected rat Achilles tendon recovered fully at 10 mcg, 10 ng or 10 pg/kg intraperitoneally daily, with higher load to failure and reestablished tendon integrity by day 14 (Staresinic et al., 2003)
Rat medial collateral ligament healing improved over 90 days whether given intraperitoneally (10 mcg or 10 ng/kg), topically in cream, or per-orally in drinking water at 0.16 mcg/mL (Cerovecki et al., 2010)
Raised growth hormone receptor expression in rat tendon fibroblasts, with growth hormone then increasing proliferation via JAK2 (Chang et al., 2014)
Increased VEGFR2 expression and internalization, activated VEGFR2-Akt-eNOS signaling and accelerated blood flow recovery in rat hindlimb ischemia (Hsieh et al., 2017)
In rats and beagle dogs, plasma half-life was under 30 min with linear kinetics and intramuscular bioavailability of 14 to 19% and 45 to 51% respectively (He et al., 2022)
Human-trial status: no completed randomized trial has been published. Published human exposure is three uncontrolled pilot reports totalling under 30 subjects (intra-articular knee pain, interstitial cystitis, a 2-subject IV safety study); a phase 2 hamstring-strain trial (NCT07437547) and a phase 1 rotator-cuff trial (NCT07803250) are registered and not yet reported

References

Side effects

No controlled human safety trial exists, so long-term risk is unknown. Three uncontrolled human pilot reports (under 30 subjects in total) recorded no adverse effects, including an IV infusion of up to 20 mg in two adults with no change in cardiac, liver, kidney, thyroid or glucose markers (Lee 2025). Commonly reported by users: injection-site irritation, transient nausea, headache. FDA placed BPC-157 in category 2 of the 503A compounding interim policy, citing possible immunogenicity by some routes and difficulty characterizing peptide-related impurities; that nomination was withdrawn and the substance now appears in the withdrawn table of the same FDA page.

Storage

Storage: Refrigerated (2-8°C)
Lyophilized: 24+ months at room temperature
Reconstituted: 28-30 days refrigerated

Pharmacology

Half-life: Under 30 min (rat and beagle dog, IV and IM; linear kinetics). No human pharmacokinetic study published
Bioavailability: Intramuscular: 14 to 19% (rat), 45 to 51% (beagle dog). Oral: active per-orally in rodents, absolute oral bioavailability not measured in any species
Molecular weight: 1419.53 Da
Sequence: Gly-Glu-Pro-Pro-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Ala-Asp-Asp-Ala-Gly-Leu-Val