What is BPC-157?

BPC-157 in one table.

Formula, masses and isoelectric point from Helion's peptide molecular weight calculator, matching PubChem's 1419.5 g/mol.

From a gastric juice protein.

BPC stands for body protection compound. BPC-157 is a partial sequence of a protein described from human gastric juice, made synthetically as the 15-residue peptide above, and it was developed in Croatia under the code PL 14736. Its originating research group reports that it stays intact in human gastric juice for more than 24 hours, which is where the name used in its papers, stable gastric pentadecapeptide, comes from.

Acetate vs arginate.

Like most synthetic peptides, BPC-157 is supplied as a salt, and two forms are sold. The sequence explains why both exist. BPC-157 has three acidic side chains (Glutamic acid 2, Aspartic acid 10, Aspartic acid 11) and a free C-terminus, against only two basic groups (the N-terminus and lysine 7), so its calculated isoelectric point is about 3.9. Acetate, the usual counterion after purification, pairs with the basic groups; arginine, itself a base, can pair with the acidic ones, giving the arginate form.

The counterion does not change the peptide: the sequence, its mass spectrometry identity and its HPLC purity are the same. It does change the weight of the powder, since each acetate adds about 60 g/mol and each arginine about 174 g/mol, and so the net peptide content per milligram of powder. Claims that the arginate form is more stable come mostly from sellers; peer-reviewed comparisons of the two forms are scarce. Purity vs net peptide content covers how salts affect what a vial holds.

Mostly rodents, mostly one group.

An independent 2019 review of the BPC-157 literature found that most studies had been run in small rodent models, that efficacy had not been confirmed in humans, and that only a handful of research groups had studied it in depth over two decades. The originating group has published extensively since the early 1990s and reports trials in inflammatory bowel disease under its development codes. BPC-157 is not approved as a drug, and Helion supplies it for laboratory research only.

Identity by mass.

Mass spectrometry confirms BPC-157 by its mass, 1419.5 g/mol on average or 1418.70 monoisotopic, and HPLC measures purity. In a blend, the report has to confirm each peptide separately. BPC-157 vs TB-500 compares it with the peptide it is most often paired with, and how peptides are tested explains each result.

BPC-157 in the Wolverine blend.

Helion supplies BPC-157 in Wolverine (BB10), a lyophilized blend of 5mg BPC-157 and 5mg TB-500 per vial, for laboratory research use only. The independent report for the current lot is in progress and publishes in the COA Portal when issued.

Specs and storage by compound.