Study wrapper · #1188
Peptide Supplements and Their Therapeutic Applications in Sports Medicine.
Editor's note
This is the most direct literature audit yet of the peptides that dominate recovery marketing, and its finding is a familiar one: the animal work is interesting, the human work is thin. Sixty-seven percent of the included publications were preclinical, and the clinical studies that exist are heterogeneous in dose and route of administration. Worth citing on our BPC-157, TB-500, CJC-1295, ipamorelin and GHK-Cu pages as the current state of evidence, alongside the cardiovascular and metabolic risks the authors document.
Plain-language abstract
Researchers systematically searched the published literature on six peptides marketed for injury recovery and athletic performance - BPC-157, TB-500, CJC-1295, MK-677, ipamorelin and GHK-Cu - and found that about two-thirds of the studies were preclinical, mostly in rats. The handful of human studies were small, often lacked robust control groups, and showed at best modest changes in metabolic bone health measures and degenerative knee pain. The authors also flag documented risks, including congestive heart failure with MK-677 and insulin resistance, and conclude the marketing claims are not yet substantiated by human trials.