Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research
Perovic et al./Springer/2019
Why It Matters
This paper caught my attention because BPC-157 is heavily marketed online for injury recovery, but almost all data is from this one Croatian research group. While the rat results look promising—actual functional recovery from spinal cord injury is notable—there's zero published human data on efficacy or safety. The lack of independent replication and jump straight to unregulated peptide markets is concerning. Not a doctor. Just a guy who reads the papers.
Key Findings
- Rats with complete spinal cord transection treated with BPC-157 (10 μg/kg or 10 ng/kg) showed earlier weight-bearing ability—7 days versus 14 days in untreated controls
- Histological analysis showed reduced tissue damage, less cavity formation, and more organized nerve fiber growth in BPC-157 treated groups
- Both low-dose (10 ng/kg) and higher-dose (10 μg/kg) BPC-157 showed similar therapeutic effects, suggesting a wide effective dose range
- Treatment was given intraperitoneally (injected into abdomen) starting immediately after injury and continued daily for 14 days
- The study used complete spinal cord transection at T9-T10 level—a severe injury model—making any functional recovery mechanistically interesting