A fitness influencer you follow is raving about a new product called BPC-157. He says it helped manage his Achilles pain and got him back to his NYC marathon training. It’s the first time you’ve heard of BPC-157 or peptides, so you start researching, but you can’t find many studies. Almost everything you turn up is rat studies. So what are peptides, what is BPC-157, and what are the side effects on humans?

What are therapeutic peptides?
Therapeutic peptides are becoming popular for managing orthopedic and musculoskeletal injuries. Peptides are short chains of amino acids that act as messengers in the body and trigger reactions. They can affect metabolic efficiency, immune modulation, oxidative stress balance, and tissue regeneration. In orthopedics, people are increasingly using them for tendon healing, cartilage repair, and muscle recovery.

One of the most well-known is Body Protection Compound-157 (BPC-157), a synthetic peptide derived from a protein found in human gastric juice. It’s usually injected under the skin and can also be taken orally. 

BPC-157 comes from gastric juice and was initially found for irritable bowel syndrome and soft tissue healing in animals. The musculoskeletal claims came later on.

In animal studies, BPC-157 has been shown to increase the growth of new blood vessels, remodel the extracellular matrix (the structure that supports cells and tissues), and affect nitric oxide signaling, which helps regulate blood vessel tone and healing. In wound healing models, it has also shown an early growth response that helps organize collagen.

What do the animal studies show?
The current literature is mostly animal research with small sample sizes. Animal studies have shown improved healing of the Achilles tendon and MCL, recovery after quadriceps trauma, and offsetting of corticosteroid damage. These results are promising, but they are not a substitute for human trials.

The review behind these findings covered 36 studies published from 1993 to 2024, all at the lowest tiers of evidence. The animal studies treated for anywhere from a single dose to 7, 14, 28, or up to 90 days, and nobody knows what that equates to in humans. A dosage that works for animals doesn’t tell us it would provide the same effect in humans. Our metabolism and body size might process the peptide differently compared to animals. The half-life, or the concentration of the peptide is decreasing over time, is reported as under 30 minutes, so it’s also unclear how that translates to tendon healing.

What do human studies show?
One of the few human studies was a retrospective, uncontrolled report of patients who received BPC-157 for knee pain. Of the 12 patients, 7 reported relief lasting more than six months. The patients reported feeling better, but the report included no objective measures of strength or tissue change. To our knowledge, no studies have compared BPC-157 with strength training.

Because of the lack of studies, we don’t know the side effects of taking BPC-157 or how it interacts with other drugs and supplements. Many of the human studies were cancelled or stopped without any publication conclusions. The systematic review found no clinical safety data in humans.

People have been reporting increased fatigue, nausea, lightheadedness, and injection-site reactions. However, the side effects haven’t been validated in medical literature or in controlled studies.

Future studies need to be randomized controlled trials so we can see higher-quality evidence. They should compare BPC-157 with other treatments for management of orthopedic injuries, including a loading program, to assess how well it works. A study of the peptide combined with training, with long-term follow-up, would also give us a better understanding of the side effects.

If You’re Thinking About It
BPC-157 is not FDA approved, has no validated dose, and is prohibited at all times under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s S0 Non-Approved Substances category. If you compete in a tested event, that applies in and out of competition. The FDA recently reviewed BPC-157 for use in compounded medications, and its briefing highlighted the lack of clinical data on safety and efficacy.

The purity of the peptide can also vary because of the lack of regulation and oversight, and the doses you find online are recommendations that haven’t been validated. BPC-157 is sold from compound pharmacies online and anti-aging clinics, which means they haven’t been vetted. Just because it is easily accessible, doesn’t mean it’s been approved or tested. 

If you’re considering BPC-157, look for a source that is trusted and independently tested, and talk with your doctor first to see whether it makes sense for you. Testing can tell you what’s in the vial, but not what the side effects are or whether it will work for your injury. Whatever you decide, keep loading the tissue. Strength training is what builds the tissue’s capacity.

What Peptides Can’t Replace
Our patients will hear about this on social media or podcasts, and it’s our job to educate them. BPC-157 may promote a healing environment, but it isn’t meant to substitute for training/rehabilitation. There is no evidence from BPC-157 that shows a change in strength.

Progressive overload is what improves tissue resilience, strength, and efficiency. As we covered in our previous blog, tendons and muscles adapt to mechanical load, and nothing in the human data shows that BPC-157 can replace that load. Our tissues need to be prepared for the demands we place on them.

What a Physical Therapist Does That Peptide Can’t
Even if a peptide did speed up healing, it can’t address why you got hurt in the first place. That could be a strength or capacity deficit, a change in training surface, or a jump in volume or intensity. For a runner with an Achilles problem, it might be decreased calf strength, reactive strength, or a jump in mileage.

When you’re injured, the injury should be evaluated by an orthopedic doctor or physical therapist before it gets worse. Get the injury checked out before taking an unproven product.

In physical therapy, we can address those issues and assess how irritable the injured tissue is. We evaluate your training program and how sensitive the area is, then modify your training so you can keep running. We can then load the tissue to improve the tissue’s capacity.

A timeline doesn’t determine your progress. How well your body can handle your training program and mileage does. Our goal is to improve your performance, running economy, and management of your symptoms.

Finishing Thoughts
Peptides may have worked for the influencer and helped him return to training, but we can’t know that from one person’s story. Many injuries improve with time, load management, and rehab, and he may have changed his own program while dealing with the injury.

BPC-157 promotes blood vessel growth in animal and cell studies, so there is a concern that it could support the growth of an existing tumor. Some cell studies have also reported inhibiting certain tumor lines, but its effect in humans is unknown.

Most animal studies were done by related researchers, and to assess the validity of the research, we need to see confirmation from outside parties. Without controlled human trials, we also don’t have good evidence on its side effects and risks. The research is still in the early stages, and more needs to be done before we are able to assess the safety of BPC-157.

Citations
– Vasireddi N, Hahamyan H, Salata MJ, et al. Emerging use of BPC-157 in orthopaedic sports medicine: a systematic review. HSS J. 2025. doi:10.1177/15563316251355551
–  Seiwerth S, Brcic L, Vuletic LB, et al. BPC 157 and blood vessels. Curr Pharm Des. 2014;20(7):1121-1125. doi:10.2174/13816128113199990421
–  Sato AK, Viswanathan M, Kent RB, Wood CR. Therapeutic peptides: technological advances driving peptides into development. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2006;17(6):638-642. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2006.10.002
– Vlieghe P, Lisowski V, Martinez J, Khrestchatisky M. Synthetic therapeutic peptides: science and market. Drug Discov Today. 2010;15(1-2):40-56. doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2009.10.009
USADA. BPC-157: what athletes should know about the prohibited experimental peptide. https://www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/bpc-157-peptide-prohibited/. Accessed September 21, 2026.