Latest studies
Every paper our editors flag with a plain-language note and an evidence rating. Filter by evidence, species, or design to find what actually applies to you.
- Study · SermorelinWeak / none
A new era of doping? Use of peptide and peptide-analog drugs in recreational and professional sport and bodybuilding: a critical review.
A critical narrative review examining peptide and peptide-analogue use as performance enhancers across sport, including several growth-hormone secretagogues, ipamorelin, CJC-1295, sermorelin, and fragments such as Frag 176-191 and KPV. This is a synthesis and commentary paper, not primary data, so its role is to characterise a landscape and its risks rather than to quantify them. The authors' central point aligns with the wider evidence: clinical support for these peptides in sport is limited, because most published studies examine controlled therapeutic dosing, not the supraphysiological, stacked protocols common in bodybuilding. They flagged emerging risk signals, cardiovascular strain, insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and psychiatric instability, and stressed that an unregulated supply chain compounds danger through mislabelled or contaminated product. True prevalence, especially among recreational and younger users, is unknown. Weight this as risk framing rather than an efficacy assessment: the review concludes these remain experimental substances with poorly defined long-term risks that should be considered high-risk in competitive and recreational settings alike.
The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitnessn=——Jul 1, 2026 - Study · SemaglutideMixed
Injectable Peptides in Sports Medicine: A Structured Narrative Review of Evidence, Safety, and Antidoping Implications.
A structured narrative review in a peer-reviewed orthopaedic journal surveying injectable peptides promoted for musculoskeletal recovery. Narrative reviews are synthesis, not new data, and this one is graded Level V (expert synthesis over predominantly low-quality evidence), so it frames the landscape rather than settling any single question. The authors reported that GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide are the only class here with reproducible randomised evidence of symptomatic improvement in knee osteoarthritis, and that the benefit appears mediated by weight loss and possible anti-inflammatory effects rather than any structural cartilage change, which remains unproven. Crucially, the review places the regenerative and growth-hormone-axis peptides, BPC-157, thymosin derivatives, CJC-1295, ipamorelin and tesamorelin, as investigational, with uncertain safety, product-quality concerns and anti-doping restrictions. Its bottom line is restraint: outside approved metabolic agents for their indicated uses, injectable peptides in sports medicine remain experimental and warrant counselling on uncertain efficacy and contamination and doping risks.
JBJS reviewsn=——May 1, 2026 - Study · SS-31Weak / none
Safety and Efficacy of Approved and Unapproved Peptide Therapies for Musculoskeletal Injuries and Athletic Performance.
This narrative review in Sports Medicine surveys the pharmacological profiles, regulatory standing, and safety data for eleven peptides marketed to athletes and patients seeking injury recovery — ranging from FDA-approved tesamorelin to unapproved compounds such as BPC-157, TB-500, and MOTS-c. The authors' central finding is that a substantial regulatory gap exists: while some peptides (tesamorelin, sermorelin historically) have cleared rigorous approval processes for specific indications, many others circulate in a gray market supported primarily by animal-model data and amplified by social media. A narrative review design is worth flagging. Unlike a systematic review or meta-analysis, it does not involve exhaustive literature search protocols or pooled effect-size estimates, which means it reflects editorial judgment about which evidence to emphasise. That is appropriate for a broad landscape survey but limits the precision of any efficacy conclusions. The key caveat — which the authors acknowledge directly — is that favorable preclinical signals in rodent tissue-repair and metabolic models do not reliably translate to human outcomes. The review also raises an...
Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)n=——Apr 12, 2026 - Study · AOD-9604Weak / none
The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating GH-IGF1 axis: bridging the gap between clinical evidence and patient self-administration.
This narrative review is directly on-topic for several tracked peptides. It maps the performance-enhancing GH-IGF-1 axis compounds sold as research chemicals, including the GHRH analogues sermorelin, tesamorelin, and CJC-1295 (with and without DAC), and the growth-hormone secretagogues GHRP-6, hexarelin, and ipamorelin. Its central contribution is an evidence-tiering: the authors contrast peer-reviewed pharmacology and clinical data against the online self-administration protocols people actually use, stratifying agents from regulatory-grade trial evidence down to a complete absence of human studies, and they are explicit that performance and body-recomposition benefits remain unproven. They also catalogue reported adverse effects, including prolactin and cortisol elevations, fluid retention, joint and muscle symptoms, and injection-site reactions. As a review it introduces no new data, but for readers weighing these secretagogues it is a sober, caveat-forward map of how thin the human evidence is and what risks have been reported.
Frontiers in endocrinologyn=——Jan 1, 2026 - Study · TesamorelinWeak / none
Injectable Peptide Therapy: A Primer for Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Physicians.
This narrative review in the American Journal of Sports Medicine takes an appropriately cautious inventory of injectable peptide therapy for orthopaedic and sports medicine — a field where patient demand has outpaced clinical evidence considerably. The authors surveyed BPC-157, TB-4/TB-500, CJC-1295 plus ipamorelin, tesamorelin, and GHK-Cu via PubMed and found a consistent pattern: promising preclinical signals, thin or absent human data, and unresolved questions around dosing, frequency, and duration for every compound reviewed. The review's conclusions align well with the broader evidence landscape for these peptides. BPC-157's lone human data point is a methodologically limited case series. Tesamorelin, the most regulation-hardened compound in the group with FDA approval and Phase III RCT backing, earned that standing for HIV-associated lipodystrophy — a narrow indication with no orthopaedic carryover. The murine muscle data for CJC-1295 plus ipamorelin is mechanistically interesting but cannot be extrapolated to clinical use. As a narrative review, this paper synthesises existing literature rather than generating new data — it reflects the state of evidence rather than...
The American journal of sports medicinen=——Jan 1, 2026 - Study · DSIPWeak / none
Therapeutic Peptides in Orthopaedics: Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions.
This narrative review, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Global Research & Reviews, surveys the mechanistic rationale for using therapeutic peptides — including BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu, ipamorelin, CJC-1295, tesamorelin, sermorelin, semax, selank, and epitalon — in orthopaedic and musculoskeletal contexts. As a narrative review, it synthesises existing literature rather than generating new data; it carries no experimental controls, no patient cohort, and no statistical analysis of outcomes. Readers should weight it as an expert-curated overview, not as clinical evidence. The review's own authors acknowledge the central limitation plainly: preclinical findings are promising, but clinical trials are currently lacking. That candid admission matters. For most peptides covered — BPC-157, TB-500, ipamorelin, and epitalon in particular — the mechanistic picture is built almost entirely on rodent and in-vitro models. Tesamorelin is the notable exception, carrying FDA approval for HIV-associated lipodystrophy on the basis of Phase III RCT data, though that evidence does not transfer to orthopaedic applications. The review is useful as a...
Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviewsn=——Jan 1, 2026 - Study · TirzepatideWeak / none
Therapeutic peptides in gerontology: mechanisms and applications for healthy aging.
This narrative review from Frontiers in Aging maps nine therapeutic peptides across aging-related domains — metabolic function, telomere biology, tissue repair, neuroprotection, GH modulation, and sexual function. The authors drew on 20 primary sources selected from PubMed, Scopus, and regulatory databases through January 2026. The core finding is an evidence stratification most readers of this space already sense: FDA-approved agents (tirzepatide, bremelanotide) rest on large-scale registration-quality trial data, while investigational peptides — epitalon, BPC-157, TB-500, Semax, GHK-Cu, CJC-1295, ipamorelin — show mechanistically interesting but methodologically limited signals, predominantly from preclinical models or small, often non-replicated studies. The critical caveat is the design itself. Narrative reviews are synthesis without meta-analytic rigour; the 20-source selection pool is modest for a field this broad, and the review does not appear to have applied formal quality-grading criteria. Conclusions therefore reflect the authors' judgment rather than a systematic evidence synthesis. For readers tracking investigational peptides: the review adds conceptual framing...
Frontiers in agingn=——Jan 1, 2026 - Study · IpamorelinWeak / none
The growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a agonists, anamorelin and ipamorelin, inhibit cisplatin-induced weight loss in ferrets: Anamorelin also exhibits anti-emetic effects via a central mechanism.
A controlled animal study in ferrets testing whether the ghrelin-receptor agonists anamorelin and ipamorelin can blunt chemotherapy-induced weight loss and nausea. This is preclinical in-vivo work: ferrets are a standard emesis model because, unlike rodents, they vomit, which makes the design apt for studying nausea, but findings remain mechanistic signals rather than clinical evidence. Researchers reported that both peptides given into the abdominal cavity failed to affect acute or delayed cisplatin-induced emesis, yet both reduced the associated delayed-phase weight loss by roughly 24%. Anamorelin delivered directly into the brain reduced acute emesis by 60% and improved food and water intake, suggesting an anti-emetic action that depends on brain penetration, an interesting dissociation between the appetite/weight effect and the anti-nausea effect. For our readers, the relevant note is narrow: ipamorelin here contributes to weight preservation but showed no anti-emetic effect, and the whole study sits at the mechanistic tier. These are preclinical findings; human data are needed before any clinical conclusions can be drawn.
Physiology & behaviorn=—AnimalOct 1, 2024 - Study · IpamorelinWeak / none
The influence of ghrelin agonist ipamorelin acetate on the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis in a cichlid fish, Oreochromis mossambicus.
A controlled animal study in Mozambique tilapia examining how the ghrelin-receptor agonist ipamorelin acetate affects the reproductive (hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular) axis in fish. This is basic comparative-physiology research at the preclinical tier, and a distant one: findings in a cichlid fish speak to conserved endocrine biology, not to human or even mammalian outcomes, and should not be read across to people. Researchers reported that 21 days of ipamorelin at 5 or 30 micrograms produced a dose-dependent rise in food intake alongside increased numbers of developing sperm cells (spermatocytes and spermatids), with the higher dose also raising serum luteinising hormone and 11-ketotestosterone and increasing testicular androgen-receptor expression, while hypothalamic and pituitary GnRH-immunoreactive fibres were unchanged. The authors interpret this as ghrelin-signalling enhancement of germ-cell development mediated through androgen and LH pathways at the testis. For our audience the value is purely mechanistic. These are preclinical findings in a fish model; human data are needed before clinical conclusions can be drawn.
Animal reproduction sciencen=—AnimalSep 1, 2024