Peptides for injury & recovery
6 peptides · T3 4 · T2 2
No entry on this page is approved for treating an injury. Most of the evidence is small uncontrolled case series, one blinded measurement that found nothing, animal studies, and in one case a joint-repair claim resting on 32 rabbits. One entry is the exception and it is worth knowing why: a copy of a peptide the immune system makes was tested as a gel on hard-to-heal leg ulcers in a proper randomised, placebo-controlled trial — the standard the rest of this page does not meet — and even there the healing difference did not reach the mark the trial had set. Demand is high and the evidence is not.
- Tested in people, but barely
AOD-9604
AOD9604 · AOD 9604
Gray marketPromoted for fat loss, and increasingly for joints, cartilage and anti-ageing.
A 502-person trial found no more weight loss than dummy tablets, and the injected form people buy has never been tested in anyone.
- Tested in people, but barely
BPC-157
Body Protection Compound 157 · PL 14736
Gray marketPromoted for injury recovery, tendon healing and gut problems.
Human evidence is limited to a 12-person case series and a two-person pilot with no comparison group.
- Tested in people, but barely
GHK-Cu (copper tripeptide-1)
Copper Tripeptide-1 (INCI) · copper peptide
SkincareSold in skincare for wrinkles, skin repair and hair growth.
Human studies are small, and the only blinded objective measurement found no clear benefit.
- Tested in people, but barely
LL-37
Cathelicidin LL-37 · cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide
Gray marketSold online for infections, wound healing and gut problems; a peptide the body makes itself.
The one properly controlled trial, in 148 people with leg ulcers, closed no more wounds than a dummy gel.
- Only tested on animals
KPV
KPV peptide · Lys-Pro-Val
Gray marketSold for gut inflammation, skin conditions and wound healing.
No published study has ever given it to a person; the evidence is mouse, rat and rabbit experiments and cells in dishes.
- Only tested on animals
TB-500
Ac-LKKTETQ · thymosin beta-4 fragment
Gray marketPromoted for injury healing and recovery.
There are no controlled human studies of TB-500 itself; the evidence comes from animals and related molecules.