News & Research
Evidence-led reviews of published peptide science. Every article separates human, animal and laboratory findings and cites its sources in full.
25 articles · Review, Research, Clinical Evidence and Analysis
The two peptides are often discussed as a pair. We examine what the literature shows for each one, where their proposed mechanisms differ, and how little direct evidence exists for combining them.
ATOM PHARMA Editorial Team7 min read
24 articles
A review of the signalling pathways most often put forward to explain BPC-157's effects in experimental injury models, how each was demonstrated, and what remains uncertain.
From a 1973 observation in liver cell culture to gene-expression data mining, GHK-Cu has an unusually long research history. We review the evidence on collagen, wound repair and gene regulation, and where it is strongest.
The STEP programme turned a diabetes medicine into one of the most closely studied peptides in obesity research. We summarise how semaglutide was engineered, what the phase 3 trials measured, and what happened when treatment stopped.
Both peptides increase growth hormone release, but through different receptors and on very different timescales. We compare their pharmacology, the human studies behind each, and what is not known.
Thymosin β4 is one of the most abundant peptides inside our cells and a long-standing subject of repair research. TB-500 is a short synthetic fragment of it. We review what each has been shown to do, and why the two should not be confused.
Purity and identity are different analytical questions. We explain what HPLC and mass spectrometry each measure, what a purity percentage can and cannot tell you, and why the two methods are used together.
One molecule acting on two incretin receptors. We review how tirzepatide was designed, what the SURPASS diabetes trials and SURMOUNT obesity trials measured, and why comparisons across trials need care.
Epitalon is often described as a peptide that lengthens telomeres and slows ageing. We separate what has been shown in cells, in animals and in people, and explain why those findings are not the same claim.
MOTS-c is encoded not in the nucleus but in mitochondrial DNA. We review the cell and mouse research behind its reputation as an exercise-related metabolic regulator, and how little of it has yet been tested in people.
Two short synthetic peptides developed from Russian research on regulatory peptides. We review their design, the neuroscience behind them, the human studies that exist, and why the evidence base is difficult to assess from outside Russia.
Melanotan II is a synthetic analogue of α-MSH that acts on several melanocortin receptors at once. We review its design, the small human studies of the 1990s, the safety signals reported since, and how it differs from the melanocortin medicines that have been approved.
BPC-157 has a large and almost uniformly positive literature. We look at where that literature comes from, what kinds of study it contains, and why its volume should not be mistaken for strength.
Evidence for two compounds studied separately is not evidence for the two combined. We explain how combination effects are defined, why they are hard to attribute, and which study designs can answer the question.
Semaglutide, thymosin β4, GHK-Cu, MOTS-c and BPC-157 each have a substantial literature, but of very different kinds. We map what type of evidence exists for each, where it is strongest and where it runs out.
Why research peptides are supplied as freeze-dried solids, what degrades them once they are dissolved, and the laboratory principles behind accurate, stable stock solutions.
One receptor, then two, then three. We compare how semaglutide, tirzepatide and the investigational peptide retatrutide are designed, what their published trials show, and why their results cannot simply be lined up against each other.
How peptides degrade during storage, which conditions accelerate each pathway, and why the evidence supports principles rather than a single set of storage rules for every sequence.
Both peptides are studied for tissue repair and both are linked to new blood-vessel growth, but they are different molecules with different biology and evidence bases of very different maturity.
A certificate of analysis summarises test results for one batch. We explain what its purity, identity and content figures can document, what they cannot establish on their own, and why a single HPLC percentage is not a complete description of a peptide.
A close reading of the cell studies behind Epitalon's association with telomeres: which cells were used, what was measured, what a 2025 independent study added, and why longer telomeres in a dish are not evidence of slower ageing.
Bremelanotide grew out of the melanotan II research programme and became a licensed US medicine. We review its receptor pharmacology, the RECONNECT phase 3 trials, its adverse-event profile, and why the licensed product is not the same thing as material sold under the name PT-141.
NAD+ sits at the centre of cellular metabolism and falls with age in several tissues. We separate three questions that are often merged: whether raising NAD+ is biochemically plausible, whether precursors such as NMN raise it in people, and whether that changes any clinical outcome.
Human genetics revealed kisspeptin as a signal the reproductive axis cannot do without. We trace how it controls GnRH and gonadotrophin release, what human infusion and IVF studies have shown, and what remains unresolved.
Tesamorelin is a GHRH analogue licensed in the United States to reduce excess abdominal fat in people with HIV. We review its pharmacology, the trials behind that use, the research on liver fat, and why these results should not be read as general weight-loss evidence.