Stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 in trials for inflammatory bowel disease heals ileoileal anastomosis
Vuksic et al./PubMed/2007
Why It Matters
This paper caught my attention because BPC-157 is widely discussed in health optimization circles, but most people don't realize it's actually been tested in human clinical trials for inflammatory bowel disease. That said, this specific study is in rats looking at surgical wound healing in the gut — not in humans. The peptide is marketed online as a recovery aid, but the evidence gap between rat intestinal surgery and human soft tissue injury is massive.
Key Findings
- BPC-157 given orally (10 μg/kg) or by injection improved healing strength of intestinal surgical connections in rats compared to saline controls
- The peptide increased collagen deposition at the surgical site, which is the structural basis for wound strength
- BPC-157 maintained stability in human gastric juice in lab testing, suggesting oral dosing could theoretically work
- The peptide had already completed Phase II trials (PL-10, PLD-116) for inflammatory bowel disease in humans by 2007, though results weren't detailed in this paper
- No toxic effects were observed in the rat model at the doses tested
Read the Paper↗PMID: 17713731