Topic
Compounds sold for human use that have never been approved for it — and what evidence, if any, sits behind them.
No peptide is approved for hair loss anywhere. Four have randomised human trials, three with a catch worth naming and one that failed outright, and four of the ones people inject have never been tested on hair at all.
Vendor lists promise a dozen peptides that raise dopamine. Almost none of them have had dopamine measured at all. Here is what each compound was actually tested on, and in which species.
BPC-157 has an enormous following and, after two decades of interest, no published randomised human efficacy trial. Here is the rodent work, the regulatory record, and what the gap means.
Ipamorelin, CJC-1295 and their relatives raise the body's own growth hormone rather than replacing it. That changes the ceiling, the side effects, and what the evidence can honestly support.
Topical GHK-Cu has controlled cosmetic and wound-healing data behind it. The injectable version sold online has none, and it adds a copper-loading question the cream never has to answer.
Melanotan II is an unlicensed melanocortin agonist sold for tanning. Here is what the case literature on new and changing moles does and does not establish, and how afamelanotide differs.
Mitochondrial-derived peptides have real biology and almost no human efficacy data. Elamipretide's trial record, failures included, shows what an actual development path looks like.
Thymosin beta-4 has completed randomised human trials. Almost all of them used the full 43-amino-acid protein, dosed into the eye. The TB-500 sold for injection is not that molecule.