Preclinical (Animal)

Gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 counteracts morphine-induced analgesia in mice

Boban Blagaic et al./PubMed/2010

Why It Matters

This paper caught my attention because BPC-157 gets hyped online as a healing peptide, but here's data showing it can interfere with pain medication in a way that suggests central nervous system effects. If you're considering BPC-157 and take any medications — especially pain meds — this is the kind of interaction data that doesn't make it into the online hype threads. Mouse data only, but worth knowing before self-experimenting.

Key Findings

  • BPC-157 at doses of 10 pg/kg to 10 mcg/kg reduced morphine's analgesic effect in mice, taking 30 minutes to develop (compared to naloxone's immediate effect)
  • When haloperidol (a dopamine blocker) enhanced morphine's pain relief, BPC-157 counteracted this enhancement — suggesting it works through dopamine pathways, not opioid receptors
  • BPC-157 alone showed no pain-relieving or pain-sensitizing effects at the doses tested
  • The interaction appeared specific to the morphine-dopamine system rather than a general analgesic blocking effect
Read the PaperPMID: 20388962