The antidepressant effect of an antiulcer pentadecapeptide BPC 157
Sikiric et al./PubMed/2000
Why It Matters
This paper caught my attention because BPC-157 keeps popping up in biohacking circles, but most discussion focuses on injury healing. This 2000 study suggests it might affect mood through mechanisms distinct from typical antidepressants—working even when chronic stress conditions made conventional antidepressants less effective. That said, this is rat data only, testing behavior in swimming tanks and stress protocols, not human depression. No delay in effectiveness is interesting, but we're still decades away from knowing if this translates to humans.
Key Findings
- BPC-157 at 10 micrograms per kg reduced immobility time in forced swim tests comparable to 15 mg imipramine or 40 mg nialamide in rats
- In chronic unpredictable stress conditions, BPC-157 remained effective after both 4 and 6 days of treatment, while imipramine only showed effects after 6 days (not 4)
- The peptide worked at an extremely low dose of 10 nanograms per kg—1000x lower than the microgram dose—suggesting high potency in this model
- Chronic stress conditions impaired conventional antidepressant effectiveness, but BPC-157 activity persisted, suggesting a different mechanism of action
- Both doses tested (10 micrograms and 10 nanograms per kg) were administered intraperitoneally once daily during the stress protocol
Read the Paper↗PMID: 10791689