TB-500

What TB-500 has been studied for

The reasons people look it up, roughly in order of how often, and what research exists for each. Interest in a use is not evidence that it works; the evidence is stated under each one.

Tendon and ligament injury

The main reason people look it up, and the use with no human trial behind it.

Muscle repair

Same picture: preclinical work and anecdote rather than trials.

Wound healing

Where the human evidence actually is, using the full protein on venous leg ulcers.

Dry eye

The other place it has been properly trialled, as an eye drop in a Phase 2 study.

Mechanism of Action

How TB-500 works

TB-500 side effects: what studies reported

There is no human trial of the fragment to build a formal table from. What follows are reports collected outside trials; the safety studies of the full protein reported it as well tolerated.

Source: Reports outside trials, plus the safety studies of full thymosin beta-4. This is a summary of published findings, not a complete safety profile and not medical advice. Questions about TB-500 belong with a licensed clinician who knows your history.

The dots after each gene are where your own result goes. Your report fills them in with the two letters you carry at that position.

Often discussed alongside

Compounds that come up next to TB-500 in research and discussion. Each has its own page. None of this is a suggestion to combine them.

BPC-157

the Wolverine pairingModerate Evidence

Body Protection Compound 157

BPC-157 comes up whenever people talk about injuries that will not heal: tendons, ligaments, a gut irritated by painkillers. It is a short chain of amino acids copied from part of a protein the stomach already makes, and the preclinical research on it is unusually consistent for this category: across many separate preclinical studies, injured tissue healed faster than it did without it. The gap is that this has largely not been repeated in people, and it is not an approved medicine, so no regulator checks the quality of what is sold under its name.

3

Gene variants

19+

Studies

GHK-Cu

tissue repair researchModerate Evidence

Glycyl-L-Histidyl-L-Lysine Copper Complex

A naturally occurring copper-binding tripeptide, studied mainly for wound healing and skin. It carries copper into tissue, where copper is the cofactor the enzyme that cross-links collagen cannot work without. Most of the evidence is topical or preclinical; the widely quoted gene-expression claims rest on far less than they appear to.

4

Gene variants

100+

Studies

Named combinations

A combination people search for by name, and what research exists on it.

Tissue repair research

Wolverine Stack

BPC-157 and TB-500: what the research does and does not show

BPC-157

TB-500

Access

Access and legal status

TB-500 is not an FDA-approved drug. Products sold online as “research chemicals” are labelled not for human use, and FDA treats them as unapproved drugs when they are marketed for people. We don't link to any seller, and nothing on this page is a recommendation to obtain or use it.

Educational information only, not medical advice. Most peptides are not FDA-approved. Do not start, stop or change any medication or peptide because of this page; talk to a licensed clinician.

Worth knowing about TB-500

Interactions and situations where there is a specific reason to be careful. Where the honest answer is that nobody has studied something, it says so and says what that leaves open.

The fragment is not the molecule that was trialled

Every human result here used full thymosin beta-4. TB-500 is a short piece of it, chosen because it is cheaper to make and contains the part thought to bind actin. Whether the fragment does everything the protein does has not been established in people.

No human trial exists for the use it is known for

Tendon, ligament and muscle repair is the entire case made for it, and it rests on preclinical studies. That is not the same as evidence of no effect, but it is a long way from the dry-eye and ulcer trials being cited as if they transfer.

Banned in sport, and a caution about actively growing tumours

It is prohibited under WADA rules at all times. Because thymosin beta-4 promotes new blood vessel growth and cell migration, which is how it helps tissue heal, it is a mechanism worth discussing with an oncologist if cancer is in the picture.

Frequently Asked Questions