Latest studies

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.