Description
The peptide BPC-157 is recognized for its powerful regenerative and cytoprotective capacities. This active substance is naturally present in small amounts in the human stomach (1).
In particular, it has the ability to significantly accelerate wound-healing, facilitate the recovery of muscles and tendons, and combat heart arrhythmia and intestinal inflammation (2-4).
Its extraordinary effects on repairing the body are generating considerable optimism among scientists and health specialists.
What Exactly is BPC-157?
BPC-157 is a peptide – a chain of amino acids. More specifically, it is a pentadecapeptide which means it is composed of precisely 15 amino acids.
The term BPC stands for Body Protective Compound. Why so? A small amount of BPC-157 is actually secreted in the body’s gastric juices in order to protect and repair the stomach and gut. But as several recent scientific studies have demonstrated, this multi-functional substance confers many other health benefits.
Hence the desire to create a synthetic product highly-concentrated in BPC-157 that can simultaneously promote wound-healing and remedy many dysfunctions in the body.
What are the Effects of BPC-157?
Current studies show that BPC-157:
- Significantly speeds up wound-healing (5);
- Facilitates the repair of numerous injuries: muscle tears, joint pain, sprains, strains, fractures, etc. making it an excellent substance for reducing post-trauma recovery time and ensuring optimal rebuilding of the injured area (6-7);
- Is able to combat various diseases of the heart, liver, stomach, and intestines, by countering heart arrhythmia, hepatic fibrosis, gastric ulcers, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, etc. (8-12).
How does BPC-157 Accelerate Healing and Recovery?
It promotes the growth of cells that make up the body’s tissues
An August 2019 study from England examined all the experiments conducted on this subject on small rodents. It found that BPC-157 consistently showed positive and fast-acting healing effects for many types of injury and for various soft tissues: tendons, ligaments, muscles, etc. (13). That is why its action is often referred to the “Wolverine effect” – from the American super-hero character with ultrafast regenerating powers.
One research team tested the regenerative potential of this pentadecapeptide on damaged Achilles tendons in rats. BPC-157 was found to « promote the growth ex vivo of tendon fibroblasts as well as cell survival » (14). In other words, BPC-157 is able to accelerate the growth of tissue-constituting cells.
Another study on rats which had suffered crushed muscles and had been given BPC-157 (administered intraperitoneally or topically) showed that this peptide improved muscle recovery (16). An acceleration in healing of acute ligament damage was also observed (17).
Research suggests that pentadecapeptide may also neutralize neuronal necrosis, the loss of myelin around nerve fibres and the formation of cysts in rats with spinal cord injury (18). More generally, one study found that injured rats given BPC-157 exhibited “functional, biomechanical, macroscopic, and histological healing improvements” (19).
BPC-157 stimulates formation of blood vessels
BPC-157 also seems to act by facilitating angiogenesis, the formation and repair of blood vessels (20). The greater the number of blood vessels, the more nutrients are able to reach the injured tissue and help repair it.
A study noted that BPC-157 may also be a “powerful angio-modulator,” able to optimize vascular response and stimulate the healing process (21).
This substance also helps protect the endothelium (the inner layer of blood vessels). In addition, it maintains the function of thrombocytes, a type of blood cell responsible for stopping bleeding quickly (22-23).
It supports formation of transitional tissue and collagen deposition
The action of BPC-157 on blood vessels means it is able to stimulate the formation of ‘granulation tissue’ (24). This transitional tissue appears after a wound has formed and is responsible for temporarily closing it. It needs a good blood supply from a large number of capillaries. BPC-157 will then support reepithelialization – the reconstruction of the epithelium (namely the epidermis in the case of a skin wound) (25).
BPC-157 also facilitates the deposition of collagen, a protein which ensures the body’s strength and elasticity. As one study suggested, “the therapeutic mechanism of BPC-157 may be related to the accelerated formation of granulation tissue, reepithelialization, skin remodeling, and the deposition of collagen via the ERK1/2 signaling pathway” (26).
Studies conducted on rabbits have also demonstrated the osteogenic properties of BPC-157: it has been found to improve healing of bone defects (27).
Regulation of heart rate, protection of the stomach and intestines
The pentadecapeptide BPC-157 has also demonstrated cytoprotective activity, which may benefit many organs. It may also have anticonvulsant properties, capable of improving heart health. One study showed that digitalis-induced cardiac arrhythmia in rats could be prevented and neutralized by BPC-157 (28).
In relation to the liver, BPC-157 is able to combat fragmentary necrosis, focal lytic necrosis, and hepatic fibrosis (29). And this substance is obviously very effective in its original environment, the stomach, against ulcers.
Researchers instilled pure alcohol into a distended rat stomach to induce damage and loss of blood vessels in the gastric artery. They found that administering pentadecapeptide BPC-157 in the stomach triggered blood vessel persistence, associated with inhibition of damage to the stomach, esophagus and duodenum (30).
And finally, another study described this substance as an “effective anti-ulcer peptide for treating inflammatory bowel disease” (PL 14736) (31).
Who is Likely to Find this Pentadecapeptide of Interest?
Numerous scientists are currently focusing on the remarkable and promising properties of BPC-157. Despite the significant benefits observed to date, it has not yet been officially approved for human consumption. Its specific properties may, however, inspire particular categories of people to follow the research being conducted on it, including:
- Injury victims or those at risk of regular injury;
- Athletes keen to recover quickly from pulled muscles, fractures, sprains, etc.;
- Weakened individuals who take longer to heal;
- Those suffering from joint pain;
- Those with stomach ulcers;
- Those with chronic gastric problems etc.
