Goal page
Peptides studied for tendon, ligament and muscle injury
Two peptides have been studied for tendon, ligament and muscle injury: BPC-157 and TB-500. Almost all of that work is in rats. One systematic review of BPC-157 found 36 studies, of which 35 were in animals and one was a small look back at patient records. No randomised trial in people has tested either for an injury.
Byline: PeptideGauge Editors. Sources checked 2026-08-24. Every study below links to its PubMed record. We do not publish amounts or schedules.
None of these is an approved medicine. Every peptide on this page is sold as a research chemical, none is approved by the FDA for any use, and for most of them the human safety record is a handful of people or nobody at all. This page tells you what has been studied. It does not tell you to use anything, how much, or how often. That belongs with a licensed doctor. Why we draw that line.
How we ranked these, before you see the ranking
The order below is arithmetic, not opinion. Each peptide gets four scores out of 100, and they are added up with fixed weights. Every score on this page is shown, so you can check the sum yourself or decide the weights are wrong.
- Evidence strength, 40 percent. The strongest single study we found for this goal. A randomised trial in people scores 100, a systematic review 75, a small human study 50, a review article 30, an animal study 25, cells in a dish 10.
- Human data, 25 percent. How many of the studies for this goal were done in people. None scores 0, one scores 40, two 60, three 80, four or more 100.
- Safety record, 20 percent. Some human safety reporting scores 70. Animal safety data only scores 35. No human safety data found scores 10. Nothing scores above 70, because nothing here has long term safety data in people.
- Regulatory clarity, 15 percent. An FDA approved drug scores 100. A substance on the FDA list of compounding nominations that were withdrawn scores 25. If the FDA also says it found no human exposure data, it scores 10.
Read the evidence score carefully. It measures how strong the study was, not how well the peptide worked. A well run trial that found nothing scores 100 here. The finding column tells you what it actually found, and on this site a well run trial that found nothing is the most useful kind of result there is.
Full rules and any changes to them: How we check.
The ranking
Sorted by total score. Every number that went into the total is in the row.
| Score | Peptide | Evidence 40% | Human data 25% | Safety 20% | Regulatory 15% | Strongest study we found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58#1 | BPC-157 The only peptide in our data with a systematic review focused on musculoskeletal healing. | 75evidence | 40human data | 70safety | 25regulatory | Systematic review Of 36 studies, 35 were in animals, where healing of tendon, ligament, muscle and bone improved. The one human study was small and retrospective. (n = 36 studies, 1 human) |
| 30#2 | TB-500 Turns up in reviews of tissue repair, but we found no injury study in people and no animal injury study of the fragment sellers offer. | 30evidence | 0human data | 70safety | 25regulatory | Review Summarizes thymosin beta-4's role in cell movement and tissue repair and lists trials then under way. |
What counts as this goal: Studies about healing damaged tendon, ligament, muscle, bone or joint tissue after an injury.
How to read the study tags
Cells in a dish means it never touched a living animal. Animals means mice or rats, usually. Small human study means a handful of people with no comparison group. Human trial means people were randomly split into treated and untreated groups, which is the only kind that can show an effect is real. Review and Systematic review sum up other studies. The full rule is on How we check.
BPC-157
A lab made peptide, 15 amino acids, copied from a piece of a protein found in human stomach fluid.
Score for this goal: 58 out of 100. The math: (75 x 40 + 40 x 25 + 70 x 20 + 25 x 15) divided by 100 = 58.
Safety, before the studies
Some human safety reporting exists. No adverse events were reported in a 12 person pilot, and a 2 person safety check found no change in heart, liver, kidney, thyroid or sugar markers. A 2025 systematic review says plainly that no clinical safety data exist.
On the FDA list of substances nominated for compounding and then withdrawn. Nothing on this page is an approved drug. We do not publish amounts or schedules for any of it.
What has been studied for injury recovery
| Who or what was studied | What was found, and the catch | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Systematic review n = 36 studies, 1 human | Of 36 studies, 35 were in animals, where healing of tendon, ligament, muscle and bone improved. The one human study was small and retrospective. Limit: Review says plainly: no clinical safety data exist for BPC-157. | Vasireddi 2025 PMID 40756949 |
| Small human study n = 16 people | Patients given BPC-157 for knee pain mostly said they felt better when phoned months later. Limit: No control group, no imaging, relies on memory by phone. | Lee 2021 PMID 34324435 |
| Review | Rodent studies suggest faster healing of tendon, ligament and muscle. Limit: Animal data only; not confirmed in people. | Gwyer 2019 PMID 30915550 |
| Review | Describes proposed ways BPC-157 might help wounds heal, such as nitric oxide signaling and new blood vessels. Limit: Mechanisms come from rat models. | Seiwerth 2021 PMID 34267654 |
| Animals | Rat tendon cells in a dish grew out and moved more with BPC-157. Limit: Cells only. | Chang 2011 PMID 21030672 |
TB-500
Sellers use this name for a lab made piece of thymosin beta-4, a natural protein that helps cells move and rebuild. Most studies used the whole protein, not the piece that is sold.
Score for this goal: 30 out of 100. The math: (30 x 40 + 0 x 25 + 70 x 20 + 25 x 15) divided by 100 = 30.
Safety, before the studies
Some human safety reporting exists. Safety was comparable to placebo in a 73 person trial, but that trial used the whole thymosin beta-4 protein, not the fragment sellers offer.
On the FDA list of substances nominated for compounding and then withdrawn. Nothing on this page is an approved drug. We do not publish amounts or schedules for any of it.
What has been studied for injury recovery
| Who or what was studied | What was found, and the catch | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Review | Summarizes thymosin beta-4's role in cell movement and tissue repair and lists trials then under way. Limit: Author helped develop the compound. | Goldstein 2012 PMID 22074294 |
What is missing
- No randomised trial in people for either peptide, for any injury.
- The BPC-157 human record is 16 patients phoned months later about knee pain, with no comparison group and no imaging.
- Every TB-500 mention here is a review, and reviews of the whole protein, not the fragment on sale.
What this page does not cover, and why
Growth hormone secretagogues such as ipamorelin and sermorelin are often sold for recovery. We have not built those guides yet, so they are not ranked here. We do not add a peptide to a goal page until we have read its studies.
Sources
- Chang (2011). PMID 21030672
- Goldstein (2012). PMID 22074294
- Gwyer (2019). PMID 30915550
- Lee (2021). PMID 34324435
- Seiwerth (2021). PMID 34267654
- Vasireddi (2025). PMID 40756949
FDA list of bulk drug substances nominated for compounding and withdrawn, last checked 2026-08-24: fda.gov. Every claim above is also on our evidence table.
Other goals
Wound healing
Studies about closing skin wounds, burns, and ulcers that will not heal.
See the rankingSkin and aging
Studies about skin appearance, collagen, scalp and hair, in people or in human skin cells.
See the rankingGut inflammation
Studies about inflammation of the bowel, in animals or in cells.
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