Impact of pentadecapeptide BPC 157 on muscle healing impaired by systemic corticosteroid application

Pevec D, Novinscak T, Brcic L, Seiwerth S, Sikiric P, et al. · Medical Science Monitor

Methylprednisolone markedly worsened healing; BPC 157 given by either route restored function and histology in corticosteroid-treated animals at every assessed interval, the authors reporting complete reversal of the corticosteroid impairment.

Population

Male Wistar rats of 280–320 g, at least ten per group, with the gastrocnemius complex crushed at 0.727 Ns/cm², with and without systemic 6α-methylprednisolone at 1 mg/kg

Intervention

BPC 157 at two dose levels by each route — 10 µg/kg and 10 ng/kg intraperitoneally, or 1.0 µg and 0.01 µg per gram of neutral cream applied to the injury — once immediately after injury or once daily to day 14

Comparator

Corticosteroid alone, untreated crush, and the vehicles: saline for injection and the neutral cream for topical use

Limitations

'Complete reversal' is the authors' characterisation of a sciatic functional index, a macroscopic score summing haematoma, oedema and erythema from 0 to 3 each, and histology, reported as median with minimum and maximum rather than means, and there is no biomechanical endpoint. From the originating Zagreb network, with the peptide made by Diagen in Ljubljana and the work credited to departmental funds. The functional assessments were made by an observer kept unaware of the treatment.