BPC-157 in Connective-Tissue Models
BPC-157 is a synthetic 15-residue peptide, GEPPPGKPADDAGLV, derived from a partial sequence of a protein identified in human gastric juice. Its connective-tissue literature is built on defined injury models in rats. A 2003 study in a transected Achilles tendon model reported higher load to failure, higher Young’s modulus, and higher functional index scores against controls. A 2010 study in a transected medial collateral ligament model reported comparable differences in ligament recovery endpoints.
Mechanism work has looked at why. A 2014 study in cultured tendon fibroblasts reported increased growth hormone receptor expression, one proposed route. The broader programme, run since the 1990s by Sikiric and colleagues at the University of Zagreb, is framed around a brain-gut axis in their 2016 review, which also describes the peptide as stable in gastric juice.
The record is preclinical. BPC-157 holds no approved human indication.
Supplied for laboratory research use only.
References
- Staresinic M, Sebecic B, Patrlj L, et al. Gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 accelerates healing of transected rat Achilles tendon and in vitro stimulates tendocytes growth. J Orthop Res. 2003;21(6):976-983. doi.org/10.1016/S0736-0266(03)00110-4
- Cerovecki T, Bojanic I, Brcic L, et al. Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 (PL 14736) improves ligament healing in the rat. J Orthop Res. 2010;28(9):1155-1161. doi.org/10.1002/jor.21107
- Chang CH, et al. Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 enhances the growth hormone receptor expression in tendon fibroblasts. Molecules. 2014;19(11):19066-19077. doi.org/10.3390/molecules191119066
- Sikiric P, Seiwerth S, Rucman R, et al. Brain-gut Axis and Pentadecapeptide BPC 157: Theoretical and Practical Implications. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2016;14(8):857-865. doi.org/10.2174/1570159X13666160502153022
