BPC-157 + TB-500 Side Effects: 63 Site-Pain Mentions, 3 FAERS Reports

The headline counts mentions and reports: the FAERS reports concern BPC-157, including a BPC-157/TB500 product (corpus 12 months; FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343).

BPC-157 is a pentadecapeptide; PL 14736 and Bepecin are program names for the same compound. The oral registry record has no posted results (NCT02637284, no posted results). TB-500 is Ac-LKKTETQ, residues 17-23 of thymosin beta-4 (PMID 22962027); the identity article explains the distinction from the full-length molecule.

Forum posts are not adverse-effect evidence. This page treats the adverse-event records of the two peptides separately; ordering patterns across the catalogue are the subject of our order-data article.

PeptidesDirect does not sell Bepecin. PeptidesDirect does not sell NL005. PeptidesDirect does not sell RGN-259. PeptidesDirect does not sell rhTB4.

BPC-157 and TB-500 are listed at PeptidesDirect as research-grade peptides.

BPC-157regeneration

BPC-157 is a synthetic 15-amino-acid gastric pentadecapeptide, studied in rodent and cell-culture models for angiogenesis, cell migration and nitric-oxide pathway activity. Lyophilized powder, specified purity at or above 98% (HPLC), batch CoA.

TB-500regeneration

TB-500 is synthetic thymosin beta-4, the full-length 43-amino-acid actin-binding peptide (about 4963 Da, CAS 77591-33-4), confirmed by a third-party Janoshik CoA. Studied for actin binding, cell migration and angiogenesis in model systems.

What research communities ask about

Reddit “12 months”, 2025-08-01 to 2026-09-04: BPC-157, TB-500 and either-compound denominators are 2,123, 1,129 and 2,372 question posts (corpus 12 months). BPC-157 and either use Peptides, Biohackers, PeptideDiscussion, Retatrutide, BPC157, tirzepatidecompound, Semaglutide and sarmsourcetalk; TB-500 excludes Semaglutide. Separate delta, 2026-09-04 to 2026-09-12: respective denominators 52, 35 and 75 (corpus delta). All delta sets comprise Biohacking, Peptidesource, PeptidePathways, Peptides, Biohackers and GLP1microdosing. Windows represent different populations, never added. Longer-window dates are script labels; delta uses UTC timestamps.

Method: title plus body is matched case-insensitively. The compound regexes are:

• BPC-157: \bbpc[- ]?157\b|\bbpc\b
• TB-500: \btb[- ]?500\b|\btb500\b|\bthymosin beta[- ]?4\b|\btb4\b|\btβ4\b
• Either: \bbpc[- ]?157\b|\bbpc\b|\btb[- ]?500\b|\btb500\b|\bthymosin beta[- ]?4\b|\btb4\b|\bwolverine\b

Deduplication retains the first post ID occurrence; delta excludes seen IDs. For n, category-match starts must lie within 250 characters of a compound-match start (corpus method). n_anywhere ignores proximity. Bare tokens and blend names broaden denominators; “Either” is not a sum. Matches include questions, reports and denials, without interpreting negation or causality.

Cells mean “N of M question posts mention the column’s compound regex and category term within 250 characters” (corpus method). Mentions establish neither reaction rates nor whether reactions occur.

Column sources: corpus 12 months; corpus delta. Shared copper/zinc categories include bare “toxic”/“zinc” matches, not compound-specific copper/zinc signals (corpus method). Leading categories: site pain, sting/burn, fatigue/tired (tied with redness/welt/hive/itch) (corpus counts).

Injection-site and local reactions in human sources

FDA prints: “FAERS ID 194222121: A 55-year-old woman reported use of BPC-157 injection compounded by Promise Pharmacy. She reported 9 days of redness and swelling around the injection site; however, she was also using injectable compounded thymosin. Interpretation of the role of BPC-157 in this case is limited by concomitant thymosin injections.” (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343).

The intravenous BPC-157 pilot reported 0/2 participants with side effects over its 3-day study, with questioning at appointments and no formal grading (PMID 40131143). The intravesical pilot reported 0/12 with adverse events after a single procedure; follow-up duration is unstated (PMID 39325560). Both ratios are computed from abstract events and totals; neither measures subcutaneous exposure. The knee-series abstract prints no adverse-event statement (PMID 34324435). The subcutaneous registry record has no posted results (NCT07803250, no posted results).

In healthy volunteers, intravenous full-length thymosin beta-4 NL005 recorded phlebitis: 1 event across 44 active subjects, in the 0.25 ug/kg single-dose column, versus 0 events in 10 placebo subjects over 28 days (PMID 34346165). Puncture-site bruising was 1 event in 8 subjects in the 2.0 ug/kg intravenous full-length thymosin beta-4 arm, daily for 10 days, versus 0 in 6 placebo subjects, observed 28 days (PMID 34346165). These are event counts.

For topical ocular full-length thymosin beta-4, instillation-site pain was 23/350 versus placebo 16/349 and irritation 5/350 versus 2/349 over approximately 4 weeks (NCT03937882). Topical ocular full-length thymosin beta-4 recorded eye pain 3/299 versus placebo 1/302 through day 29 (NCT02974907). Another topical ocular full-length thymosin beta-4 trial recorded instillation-site pain 0/36 versus vehicle 2/36 over 4 weeks (NCT01387347). Topical full-length thymosin beta-4 gel recorded cellulitis 1/22 versus placebo 0/8 within 70 days (NCT00311766). These count participants with events.

Randomized BPC-157 and human fragment absence claims appear in full below.

Systemic reports: fatigue, headache, nausea, dizziness and blood pressure

FDA prints: “FAERS ID 23130696: A 28-year-old male reported use of BPC-157 acetate SC injection for "injury/inflammation" compounded by Revive Rx Pharmacy. The patient developed shortness of breath, which resulted in an emergency room visit. No further information was provided (i.e. duration of use, concomitant medications, or temporal relationship to product) which limits interpretation of this AE report.” The briefing does not state hospitalization or classify seriousness (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343).

Topical full-length thymosin beta-4 gel in pressure-ulcer patients recorded headache 2/53, nausea 3/53, asthenia 1/53 and hypotension 1/53, each versus placebo 0/18 over 99 days (NCT00382174). Topical ocular full-length thymosin beta-4 after vitrectomy recorded headache 2/9 and nausea, vomiting and dizziness each 1/9, versus placebo 0/3 for each term, day 0 to 28 (NCT00598871). These topical endpoints do not characterize injected exposure. The pressure-ulcer trial recorded asthenia with topical full-length thymosin beta-4 gel; this endpoint does not quantify lethargy following injected exposure (NCT00382174).

Intravenous full-length thymosin beta-4 NL005 recorded abnormal ECG: 3 events in 44 active subjects versus 1 in 10 placebo subjects after single dosing; 8 events in 24 versus 5 in 6 during the 10-day multiple-dose part (PMID 34346165).

Skin and pigmentation

The pigmentation report describes a subcutaneous BPC-157/TB500 product, diffuse hyperpigmentation and gingival darkening after one week, and identical reactions on rechallenge after two weeks (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343). FDA states: “The AEs were likely due to the drug product considering that the AEs occurred upon rechallenge; however, because the product contained two peptides it is not possible to assess a potential relationship between BPC-157 and the reported AEs.” (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343).

Topical full-length thymosin beta-4 gel, with study concentrations pooled, recorded pruritus 4/55 versus placebo 1/17, erythema 3/55 versus 0/17, and rash 2/55 versus 0/17 over 99 days (NCT00832091). These terms remain separate.

Hypersensitivity and immunogenicity

Topical full-length thymosin beta-4 gel recorded hypersensitivity 1/53 versus placebo 0/18 over 99 days (NCT00382174), and allergic dermatitis 1/55 versus placebo 0/17 over 99 days (topical full-length thymosin beta-4 gel; NCT00832091). FDA states that it did not identify formal BPC-157 immunogenicity investigations (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343). Its fragment briefing discusses immunogenicity and aggregation concerns with injectable peptide routes without quantifying incidence (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193349).

The tumor and angiogenesis question

FDA states that it did not identify BPC-157 carcinogenicity studies in its evaluation (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343). Intravenous full-length thymosin beta-4 NL005 recorded abnormal squamous cell carcinoma antigen, a laboratory tumor marker: 8 events in 44 active subjects versus 0 in 10 placebo subjects in the single-dose part (PMID 34346165). The publication of that intravenous trial reports a transient rise and no tumor-related adverse events (PMID 34346165). A marker abnormality is not a tumor diagnosis. The angiogenesis article addresses mechanisms.

Preclinical findings

The doses named here are the arms of the cited studies, not an application protocol for research vials.

The BPC-157 abstract reports no single-dose test-related effects in mice, rats, rabbits or dogs, and negative genetic and embryo-fetal findings (PMID 32334036). It reports mild local irritation in a local tolerance test, with species and scoring unstated (PMID 32334036). In the repeated-dose dog study, which FDA’s assessment describes as a 28-day intramuscular study (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343), serum creatinine decreased at 2 mg/kg but not at lower doses, recovering after 2 weeks of withdrawal; the abstract itself prints neither route nor duration for that arm (PMID 32334036). FDA’s assessment describes rat aPTT shortening, dog aPTT prolongation and increased ALT, glucose and triglycerides during the 28-day intramuscular studies (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343). Rat and beagle-dog BPC-157 pharmacokinetics report plasma half-life less than 30 min after intravenous/intramuscular exposure (PMID 36588717).

Full-length thymosin beta-4 in female Swiss-Webster mice was studied at 400 micrograms per mouse intraperitoneally, once, with distribution followed up to 24 h, not a toxicity endpoint (PMID 9226473). Fragment Ac-LKKTETQ studies used 10 mg subcutaneously once in horses (PMID 23084823), and 50 mg/kg intraperitoneally once in rats for metabolite identification (PMID 38382158; FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193349). The fragment/metabolite fibroblast abstract reports no cytotoxicity; concentration unstated (PMID 38382158). These findings do not supply human exposure thresholds.

What no trial has measured

As of 2026-09-13, the Veljaca phase 1 meeting abstracts on PL 14736 (BPC-157) are not retrievable as publications (PubMed search: 'Veljaca M[au] AND (PL 14736 OR PL14736)', 0 hits; ClinicalTrials.gov search: 'PL 14736', 0 records). The zero-hit registry search covers the searched string only.

As of 2026-09-13, the Ruenzi 2005 ulcerative-colitis trial of PL 14736 (BPC-157) is not retrievable as a publication (PubMed search: 'Ruenzi M[au] AND ulcerative colitis', 0 hits; ClinicalTrials.gov search: 'PL 14736', 0 records). The registry search covers that string only; the Bepecin record was retrieved through other searches (NCT02637284, no posted results).

As of 2026-09-13, no completed study has reported randomized human adverse-event data for BPC-157 (PubMed search: '(BPC 157[tiab] OR BPC-157[tiab] OR "PL 14736"[tiab] OR PL14736[tiab] OR pentadecapeptide BPC 157[tiab]) AND (randomized[tiab] OR randomised[tiab] OR "Randomized Controlled Trial"[pt]) AND humans[mh]', 1 hit, a narrative review; ClinicalTrials.gov search: 'BPC-157', 4 records, none with posted results).

As of 2026-09-13, no completed study has reported safety or adverse-event data for the TB-500 fragment (N-acetylated LKKTETQ, residues 17-23 of thymosin beta 4) in humans (PubMed search: '"TB-500"[tiab] OR "TB500"[tiab] OR LKKTETQ[tiab]', 36 hits, none a human study of the fragment; ClinicalTrials.gov search: 'TB-500', 1 record, which declares itself a fictional example record).

As of 2026-09-13, no completed study has reported a case report or pharmacovigilance analysis of a human adverse event attributed to TB-500 or to thymosin beta 4 (PubMed search: '("thymosin beta 4"[tiab] OR "thymosin beta-4"[tiab] OR "thymosin β4"[tiab] OR LKKTETQ[tiab] OR "TB-500"[tiab]) AND (toxicity[tiab] OR toxicology[tiab] OR LD50[tiab] OR genotoxicity[tiab] OR "safety pharmacology"[tiab] OR "repeated dose"[tiab] OR "adverse event"[tiab] OR "adverse events"[tiab] OR "case report"[tiab] OR pharmacovigilance[tiab])', 22 hits; ClinicalTrials.gov search: 'thymosin beta 4', 18 records).

Spontaneous-report searches are separate. FDA retrieved three BPC-157 FAERS reports through December 4, 2025, and three HFCS cases through December 3, 2025; HFCS lacks case details; confounders include multi-ingredient products, medications and missing information (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193343). FDA’s TB-500 FAERS search retrieved 0 reports through March 26, 2025; HFCS retrieved 2 blended-product cases for 1/1/2004 to 3/10/2025, without safety assessments (FDA PCAC briefing, fda.gov/media/193349). These counts have no exposure denominators.

Who the human studies enrolled

BPC-157

Full-length thymosin beta-4

Conclusions for Research

Corpus mentions do not measure adverse-event incidence. BPC-157 pilots and FDA reports retain design and attribution limits. Full-length thymosin beta-4 results concern specific formulations and routes. The searches do not bridge them to the TB-500 fragment.

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Sources and further reading:

- TB-500 identity. PMID 22962027: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22962027/

- BPC-157 intravenous pilot. PMID 40131143: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40131143/

- BPC-157 intravesical pilot. PMID 39325560: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39325560/

- BPC-157 knee series. PMID 34324435: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34324435/

- Full-length thymosin beta-4 intravenous NL005 trial. PMID 34346165: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34346165/

- BPC-157 toxicity abstract. PMID 32334036: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32334036/

- BPC-157 animal pharmacokinetics. PMID 36588717: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36588717/

- Full-length thymosin beta-4 mouse distribution. PMID 9226473: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9226473/

- Fragment administration in horses. PMID 23084823: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23084823/

- Fragment metabolites and fibroblasts. PMID 38382158: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38382158/

- Full-length thymosin beta-4 intravenous trial. PMID 20536472: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20536472/

- Full-length thymosin beta-4 intravenous infarction trial. PMID 41229390: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41229390/

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00311766: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00311766

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00382174: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00382174

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00598871: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00598871

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00832091: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00832091

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01387347: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01387347

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01393132: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01393132

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02597803: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02597803

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02600429: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02600429

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02637284: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02637284

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02974907: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02974907

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03937882: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03937882

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT07437547: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07437547

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT07752381: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07752381

- ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT07803250: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07803250

- FDA PCAC briefing, BPC-157: https://www.fda.gov/media/193343/download

- FDA PCAC briefing, TB-500: https://www.fda.gov/media/193349/download

- Search logs: absence searches dated 2026-09-13, strings and hit counts printed above.

- Reddit corpus: .scratch/reddit-corpus/question-posts.jsonl and .scratch/reddit-corpus/delta-question-posts.jsonl, 12 months, 2025-08-01 to 2026-09-04; .scratch/reddit-corpus/delta2/questions.json, delta, 2026-09-04 to 2026-09-12. Counts: .scratch/paketA/bpc-157/reddit-counts.json, .scratch/paketA/tb-500/reddit-counts.json, .scratch/paketA/bpc-tb/reddit-counts.json. Compound regexes: BPC-157: \bbpc[- ]?157\b|\bbpc\b; TB-500: \btb[- ]?500\b|\btb500\b|\bthymosin beta[- ]?4\b|\btb4\b|\btβ4\b; Either: \bbpc[- ]?157\b|\bbpc\b|\btb[- ]?500\b|\btb500\b|\bthymosin beta[- ]?4\b|\btb4\b|\bwolverine\b; category regexes and 250-character rule: .scratch/paketA/count-reactions.py.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Products

BPC-157regeneration

BPC-157 is a synthetic 15-amino-acid gastric pentadecapeptide, studied in rodent and cell-culture models for angiogenesis, cell migration and nitric-oxide pathway activity. Lyophilized powder, specified purity at or above 98% (HPLC), batch CoA.

TB-500regeneration

TB-500 is synthetic thymosin beta-4, the full-length 43-amino-acid actin-binding peptide (about 4963 Da, CAS 77591-33-4), confirmed by a third-party Janoshik CoA. Studied for actin binding, cell migration and angiogenesis in model systems.

WOLVERINE (BPC-157 + TB-500)regeneration

A pre-mixed vial of BPC-157 and full-length thymosin beta-4 (TB-500) at a fixed 1:1 composition, 10 mg = 5 mg each, 20 mg = 10 mg each. Purity reported per component on a batch-specific Janoshik CoA.

This article is for informational purposes only for scientific research.