What Is BPC-157 Made From? Origin Explained
BPC-157 is a substance, frequently referred to in fitness discussions, biohacking podcasts, and wellness websites, and is frequently referred to as a healing peptide or recovery compound. However when asked about what it is actually composed of, they give vague answers. And now, to trace the history of BPC-157, what this compound is, how it is produced, and why the words natural and synthetic are actually important.
BPC-157 was not created in a lab or factory, it was created in the stomach. The stomach is a natural gland secret which produced gastric juice – a mucus of hydrochloric acid, digestive enzymes such as pepsin, mucins, proteins and protein fragments. At the beginning of the 1990s, scientists discovered a huge protein in this juice called BPC or Body Protection Compound. The fact that the stomach heals itself even though the environment is very harsh with an acid, interested scientists, and BPC appeared to be a significant factor.
The first observation was made in 1993, when a Croatian group under the leadership of Predrag Sikiric reported in the Journal of Physiology (Paris) that BPC is a novel protective peptide in gastric juice. That was the research that was put into motion by that study.
The original BPC protein found in gastric juice is a large molecule with a molecular weight of around 40,000 daltons. Working with the full protein presented several problems:
It was another way researchers approached it. They sequenced the protein and determined a small fragment of the protein 15 amino acids at the N-terminal end. The fragment had retained the biological activity of the significantly larger parent protein. It is now called BPC‑157.
Its amino acid sequence is: Gly-Glu-Pro-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Ala-Asp-Asp-Ala-Gly-Leu-Val.
The fragment has a weight of 1,419.55 daltons, which is very small in relation to the size of the original protein. The peculiarity is that this series is not repeated in any other known peptide in the body; it is specific to BPC.
The nature of peptides is so delicate that they easily decompose in the body, particularly in the harsh acidic stomach. This instability is a significant obstacle in the study of peptides because most promising molecules cannot last long enough to be useful orally.
BPC‑157 is an exception. Its form gives it great stability in water, and gastric fluid. It is reported to stay unchanged in human gastric fluid over 24 hours of contact, which is incredibly long as a peptide.
Such stability is important because:
This is one of the points that get misinterpreted. The parent BPC protein is found naturally in human gastric juice, although the BPC-157 studied in research is completely synthetic and it is generated in laboratories through the use of chemical synthesis. No drawing out of the stomach of any one. The choice to synthesise instead of extract was not made in the last minute:
So BPC-157 is based on a natural protein and has a similar sequence, but it is a product of the laboratory. It is deceptive to refer to it as natural; it is rather derived by a natural source.
BPC 157 is synthesised through Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPS). The standard method of peptide production is SSPS that is used in laboratories and pharmaceutical companies globally.
Robert Bruce Merrifield, who invented the technique, in the early 1960s developed the technique; a discovery that made him win the 1984 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This method was used to synthesise BPC-157 in 1993 by R. Rucman.
Simplified description of the process:
The synthesis begins with a solid support; small beads of cross-linked polystyrene resin. This resin is chemically modified with the C-terminal amino acid of BPC-157 (valine), which attaches the growing peptides chain.
The protective group on the reactive end of the chain is deprotected (removed) followed by addition of each amino acid in reverse sequence (C -terminus to N -terminus), in reverse order of addition. The resin is washed after every addition to take away the unreacted chemicals. The process continues until the 15 residues have been joined together.
The peptide is chemically removed off the resin once the chain is complete. Side-chain protective groups are also eliminated. The crude product is then subjected to purification, which is usually through High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), separating the target peptide and impurities or truncated peptides.
The important lessons that are learned about manufacturing include:
BPC-157 is a protein composed of amino acids, so it is better to learn what these building blocks are. Amino acids are the organic molecules which play the basic building blocks of any protein and peptide in living organisms.
The BPC-157 includes the following sequence of amino acids:
Glycine (Gly): Glycine (Gly) is used three times. It is the easiest amino acid and provides leeway to the peptide chain.
Glutamic acid (Glu): There is one appearance of glutamic acid (Glu). It is negatively charged and is a participant in numerous metabolism processes.
Proline (Pro): Proline (Pro) is used four times. It is believed that its unusual stability as a peptide is largely due to its rigid form of the ring.
Lysine (Lys): Lysine (Lys) appears once. It is positively charged and has relationships with protein structure as well as cell signalling.
Alanine (Ala): Alanine (Ala) appears twice. The universal amino acid in proteins.
Aspartic acid (Asp): Aspartic acid (Asp) is found twice. Similar to glutamic acid, it has a negative charge.
Leucine (Leu): Leucine (Leu) appears once. An essential amino acid that is branched-chain.
Valine (Val): Valine (Val) appears once. It is another branch-chained amino acid which also helps in the structural integrity of the peptide.
These are all common amino acids that can be found in the human body. The individual components are nothing exotic or unusual. The peculiarity of BPC-157 is the biologically determined sequence in which they are positioned and the biological effect that this or that order provides.
If you have ever studied research literature or product specifications of BPC-157, you might have seen it listed under various forms. The two most common are:
In both cases, the sequence of the peptide is the same. The distinction is the form of salt that may influence the behaviour of the compound in the solution and its shelf life and its ability to be incorporated with various delivery systems.
You may be asking yourself why all this is important at all should you just seek to know what BPC-157 is. This is why the origin storey is significant:
A large portion of the internet literature talks about BPC-157 as a natural healing agent, or suggests it is in some way derived out of the body. That is not accurate. Knowing that it is a man-made piece of an existing naturally-occurring protein provides a far clearer view of what you are actually reading about.
Due to the chemical manufacture of BPC-157, the quality of the end product is as good as the process employed to produce it. No regulatory agency exists to control BPC-157 production to be used by consumers, which implies:
It is also important to note that BPC-157 is a synthetic peptide that is a by-product of gastric juice, which explains why the study has made the necessary advancements. The compound is also rather simple and cheap to produce, hence the presence of hundreds of preclinical studies. However, it has never undergone the entire regulatory approval procedure in any country, and its safety and effectiveness in humans is not well determined.
The knowledge of the BPC-157 composition is also important in understanding the regulatory status of BPC-157. Although it is based on a naturally occurring compound that exists in the human body, all major regulatory bodies categorise it as an unapproved experimental substance.
In Australia, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has listed BPC-157 in the Schedule 4 category of prescription-only medicines, further restricted under the Appendix D of the schedule and therefore having possession without reasonable authorisation is illegal. It is not a part of the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).
The situation is the same internationally:
The parent compound of the peptide is found in gastric juice naturally and does not provide this compound with any special regulatory exception. The current status can be explained by synthetic manufacture, the lack of clinical trial information, and the absence of an established safety profile.
BPC-157 is a peptide of 15 amino-acids that are synthetically produced. It was first discovered in a larger protective protein in human gastric juice. It is produced in laboratories by solid phase peptide synthesis, the chemical process that produces an innumerable number of other research peptides. It does not diffuse out of the body. It is an artificial supplement. It is not authorised to be used by humans anywhere all over the world.
At its most basic, what it actually is is a strictly arranged sequence of 15 standard amino acids that so coincides as to generate a few really intriguing biological actions in laboratory conditions. The origin is fascinating. The preclinical trial is convincing. Nevertheless, the distance between a potential lab compound and an established treatment is still a long way. Knowing what BPC-157 is constituted of is the initial move in reducing all the noise and establishing a coherent opinion about this extensively talked about yet little known peptide.