The clamor about injectable peptides continues to increase as health and wellness influencers promote them online for weight loss, muscle growth and anti-aging. There is serious debate, however, about the claimed benefits and safety of these chemicals.
Exactly what are peptides and what do they do?
“Peptides are strings of molecules called amino acids, which are the ‘building blocks’ of proteins, says Gaston M. Ponte Jr., M.D., whose fields of specialization at Health First’s Medical Group include internal medicine, endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
“Peptides are basically short proteins that are about two to 100 amino acids long, kind of like a line of cars.
“Your body makes peptides that serve important functions in some of the body’s most necessary processes, including how you digest and use energy from the food you eat, how hungry you feel, and how your hormones work.”
Healthline, which reports on physical and mental health topics, says that while peptides exist naturally in your body, they are also found in animal or plant sources of protein.
Manufacturers can isolate these peptides or make them by combining individual amino acids.
“Prescribing peptides is nothing new,” says Dr. Ponte.
Researchers have been working to develop peptides as treatments for some medical conditions since 1921, and incretin hormones, a group of metabolic hormones produced by the gut in response to food intake, have been around since 2004.
Among the FDA-approved peptides are those used for weight loss, diabetes and osteoporosis.
It’s when we talk about unregulated peptides that the story changes.
Anthony C. Tam, M.D., a family and sports medicine physician with Henry Ford Health, says, “[The peptides] insulin and GLP-1s are designed for specific diseases, so we know who’s a good candidate for them.
“With these newer unregulated peptides, we don’t have the same level of evidence yet. We’re not sure about dosing and frequency,” he says.
“When research is not standardized, regulated or reviewed by the FDA, there’s no guarantee they’re being manufactured safely or that the ingredients are what is advertised.”
Dr. Ponte says, “It takes the FDA decades of testing to approve peptides. [Then] we know that they’re safe and effective.
“But the unregulated peptides people buy online can be manufactured anywhere in the world: Bangladesh, China, Africa. We don’t know what they have in them and we don’t know how – or if – they work.”
Stuart Phillips, Ph.D., Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health in Aging at McMaster University in Ontario, says, “To me, the biggest danger is not just that it might not work, it’s that people often have no real idea of what’s in the vial, if the dose is accurate, whether the product is sterile, if there are contaminants, or even if the label is correct.
“Once you inject something, you’ve bypassed some of the body’s usual barriers – such as the digestive system, kidneys and liver, which filter out toxins,” he said.
That means taking them without medical supervision is risky business. The benefits of experimental peptides are unproven regarding safety or effectiveness in humans.
Nature, a weekly international journal that publishes peer-reviewed research in all fields of science and technology, explains that because there’s no regulatory oversight of the labs that manufacture these peptides, the purity varies widely.
When a third-party testing platform evaluated the purity and abundance of 14 unregulated peptides, it found that out of 6,000 samples from 203 companies, more than 40 percent failed to meet even basic purity and dose standards.
Of the roughly 250 samples that were tested for endotoxins, a marker of bacterial contamination, 15 percent had low but measurable quantities. Endotoxins can cause symptoms that range from fever and chills to, at high levels, septic shock.
“We have to remember that anyone can post anything on the internet and people who are desperate often come to rely on faulty information,” says Dr. Ponte.
“Sadly, because doctors are often pressed for time when seeing a patient and don’t always have the option to discuss unregulated peptides in detail, many people make their decisions without reliable information.
“Those taking unregulated peptides often are unaware of an FDA loophole that says that supplements don’t have to be regulated,” Dr. Ponte continues. “Because of that, these peptides can make claims that have no basis in science.”
Unlike experimental peptides, FDA-approved medications undergo years of human trials and are subject to regulated manufacturing and distribution.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with exploring the use of peptides,” says Dr. Ponte. “But I recommend that people use products that have already been approved by the FDA. That way, you’ll know that what you’re getting has been studied and tested for safety and efficacy.”
Gaston M. Ponte Jr., M.D., C.C.D., F.A.C.E, specializes and is board-certified in internal medicine, endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at Health First Medical Group. He received a medical degree at Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Ecuador; did an internal medicine residency at University of Illinois at Chicago-Advocate Christ; and completed an endocrinology fellowship at Northwestern University, Chicago. His office is located at Health First’s Medical Group, Gateway, 1223 Gateway Dr., Melbourne. You can call 321-728-6012 for an appointment.
