No controlled human injury trial
Tendon, ligament, or muscle injury
BPC-157 and TB-500 dominate this search. Neither record carries a completed controlled trial in a person healing one of these injuries.
Read the two-compound evidence guidePage last checked
Goal
Peptides for healing and recovery
People buy four peptides to heal injuries faster. The two they buy most often have the least human evidence of the four.
Source: Based on 4 compound guides · checked 2026-08-13
People usually buy BPC-157 and TB-500 together, and usually name them together in the same sentence. Between them they carry no completed trial in an injured person. That is the finding, and it sits oddly beside how confidently sellers pitch them.
The other two compounds have more human evidence but attract less attention. Each row separates reported practice from what published studies actually tested.
At a glance
Compounds covered
4
With published human dosing
1 of 4
Approved or being tested for this
0
No human evidence for this goal
3
Start with the outcome
Recovery from what? The evidence changes with the answer
Recovery is not one outcome. A torn tendon, an open wound, a bowel waking after surgery and function after a stroke are four different research questions.
A human topical trial exists
A wound or venous ulcer
LL-37 was tested on venous leg ulcers. Two lower strengths improved healing; the highest did not beat placebo. That is wound evidence, not a tendon result.
Open the LL-37 recordTwo placebo-controlled trials
Gut recovery after surgery
Ipamorelin was tested after bowel surgery. Both completed phase 2 trials measured return of gut function, and neither beat placebo on its main endpoint.
Read what the ipamorelin trials foundOlder human studies, different route
Recovery after stroke
Semax studies followed people after ischemic stroke and used nasal drops. They do not establish an injectable sports-recovery protocol.
Open the Semax evidence guideFour compounds, and what the published work covered
Read the right column for the injury and the species. The two compounds bought most for injuries have the least to say here.
◆ 4 compounds coveredsources shown in each row
| Compound | What people take it for | What research shows | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| BPC-157 | Taken hoping to heal faster — tendon and ligament injuries, muscle tears, and gut conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease.Reported use only | Nearly all of it comes from rats and mice. Three small reports describe people receiving it, none with a comparison group, covering fewer than 30 subjects between them. None of the three tested a healing injury, and none used an injection under the skin. | no human dose shown to workDose reported in the literature only |
| TB-500 | Bought for the same tendon, muscle and joint injuries as BPC-157, and usually bought alongside it.Reported use only | The full protein it is named after did reach clinical development, as eye drops, gels and a heart infusion. The short piece sold as TB-500 did not. FDA states it found no record of any person receiving this fragment, by any route. | indirect evidenceNo human dose published |
| LL-37 | Bought for wounds that will not close and for infections sitting under a biofilm.Measured in a human study | This is the one row with a healing endpoint measured in people. On venous leg ulcers the two lower strengths improved healing, while the highest did no better than placebo. That dose-response running backwards at the top is the useful detail. | limited human dataDose from a human trial · no FDA label |
| KPV | Bought for gut inflammation, and for inflamed skin that is slow to settle.Reported use only | In mice given colitis chemically, and in colon cells in a dish, it quietens inflammatory signaling. FDA states it has found no data on any person receiving it, by any route. No human has been recorded taking it. | no human dose shown to workNo human dose published |
The confidence runs opposite to the evidence
Rank these four by how much human data exists. The order almost exactly reverses how often people buy them. LL-37 has a registered trial with a healing endpoint and few people have heard of it. TB-500 has no recorded human exposure and is a staple of every seller’s catalogue.
The reason is a naming accident worth understanding. TB-500 borrows its reputation from thymosin beta-4, a 43-residue protein that genuinely reached clinical development. The material sold under the TB-500 name is a seven-residue fragment. Evidence about the protein is not evidence about the fragment, and FDA’s own entry treats them separately.
BPC-157’s animal record is large and it is genuinely interesting. It is also entirely animal. The three human reports on the page used a different route, had no comparison group, and did not follow a healing injury.
No completed trial in an injured person
Across these four pages there is no completed controlled trial in a person with a torn tendon, a strained muscle or an injured joint. That is the exact question people buy them to answer.
The LL-37 ulcer work is the nearest thing, and a venous leg ulcer is a different problem from a sports injury. Reading it across to a tendon is the same leap this page declines to make anywhere else.
Where to go next
The grid of 32 compounds against 10 goals
The evidence-state map for peptides and cancer
The testosterone table, basis by basis
Where the skin evidence stops
How LL-37 differs from the rest of its class
KPV without an approved label: what exists instead
TB-500 — class, half-life and regulatory standing
Which anxiety and depression claims have a trial
- Mateescu DM, Gavrilescu DM, Constantinescu FE, Oancea C, Ilie AC, Folescu R, Popa MD, Iurciuc S, Muresan CO, Enache A. BPC-157 as an Investigational Peptide Therapeutic: Biopharmaceutical Challenges, Formulation Strategies, and Translational Development Barriers. Pharmaceutics 2026;18(5):625 — states the quantity used off-label and that it was extrapolated informally from rodent data, with no human pharmacokinetic or safety anchorretrieved 2026-08-13indirect evidence
- NCT01280344 — Phase II double-blind placebo-controlled dose-finding study of ipamorelin for recovery of gastrointestinal function after small or large bowel resection (Helsinn Therapeutics; 320 patients; arms 0.03 mg/kg BID, 0.06 mg/kg BID, 0.06 mg/kg TID, all intravenous)retrieved 2026-08-12Human trial
- Beck DE, Sweeney WB, McCarter MD; Ipamorelin 201 Study Group. Prospective, randomized, controlled, proof-of-concept study of the ghrelin mimetic ipamorelin for the management of postoperative ileus in bowel resection patients. Int J Colorectal Dis 2014;29(12):1527-34retrieved 2026-08-12Human trial
- Dominikowski A, Rękoś Z, Olejarz M, Szczepanek-Parulska E, Domin R, Ruchała M. The emerging landscape of performance-enhancing peptides modulating GH-IGF1 axis: bridging the gap between clinical evidence and patient self-administration. Front Endocrinol 2026 — tabulates self-reported online dosing patterns beside the clinical doses, stating the reported values must not be read as clinically validated, regulatory-approved or saferetrieved 2026-08-12indirect evidence
- Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risksretrieved 2026-08-14indirect evidence
- A randomized, placebo-controlled, single and multiple dose study of intravenous thymosin beta4 in healthy volunteers.retrieved 2026-08-14limited human data
- Doping control analysis of TB-500, a synthetic version of an active region of thymosin β₄, in equine urine and plasma by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.retrieved 2026-08-14indirect evidence
- Effects of BPC-157 and TB-500 on Achilles tendon healing in rats: A histopathological and biomechanical study.retrieved 2026-08-14indirect evidence
- Induction of Antitumor Response in Melanoma Patients Using the Antimicrobial Peptide LL37 (NCT02225366) — MD Anderson Cancer Center, phase 1/2, completed, results postedretrieved 2026-08-12Human trial
- Evaluation of KPV-related Bulk Drug Substances (KPV (free base) and KPV acetate) for Inclusion on the 503A Bulk Drug Substances Listretrieved 2026-08-14no human dose shown to work
- PepT1-Mediated Tripeptide KPV Uptake Reduces Intestinal Inflammationretrieved 2026-08-14indirect evidence
- Critical Role of PepT1 in Promoting Colitis-Associated Cancer and Therapeutic Benefits of the Anti-inflammatory PepT1-Mediated Tripeptide KPV in a Murine Modelretrieved 2026-08-14indirect evidence
- Orally Targeted Delivery of Tripeptide KPV via Hyaluronic Acid-Functionalized Nanoparticles Efficiently Alleviates Ulcerative Colitisretrieved 2026-08-14indirect evidence
- Gusev EI, Martynov MY, Kostenko EV, Petrova LV, Bobyreva SN. [The efficacy of semax in the tretament of patients at different stages of ischemic stroke]. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2018;118(3 Vyp 2):61-68 — 110 patients, two ten-day courses of 6000 mcg a day separated by twenty days. Russian; read here through the English abstract indexed in PubMedretrieved 2026-08-13limited human data
- Serdiuk AV, Levitskii GN, Miasoedov NF, Skvortsova VI. [The study of chronic partial denervation and quality of life in patients with motor neuron disease treated with semax]. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2007;107(4):29-39 — 27 patients given 12 mg a day intranasally as a 1% solution in two ten-day courses. The abstract calls it open-label and reports that Semax did not influence the course of the disease. Russian; read through the indexed English abstractretrieved 2026-08-13limited human data