Keep the papers beside the claims.
Here’s the reading behind the pages, grouped by the kind of question it can answer. The notes help you choose a source without turning the list into another science lesson.
Early research
Cell and animal studies help explain why a compound interests researchers. Check the setting first: a useful finding in a mouse still leaves the human question open. The same applies to human cells grown in a dish.
- Dalmasso and colleagues — KPV and bowel inflammation, 2008
Human cells grown in a lab and mice with bowel inflammation. These aren’t human treatment results.
- Xiao and colleagues — getting KPV to bowel tissue, 2017
Mice received KPV in specially designed particles. The delivery method is part of the finding.
- Hsieh and colleagues — BPC-157 and blood-vessel growth, 2017
Experiments in rats and chick embryos help explain research interest. They don’t establish healing benefits in people.
- Covarrubias and colleagues — what NAD+ does in cells, 2021
A review of NAD+ biology. An essential role in cells isn’t proof of benefit from adding more.
Human studies
Human studies vary too. A short safety observation, a weight-loss trial and a review don’t do the same job. We keep who was studied and what changed in view, rather than treating every human paper as equally conclusive.
- Review of BPC-157 and musculoskeletal healing, 2025
A review of repair research, highlighting very limited human evidence and the need for rigorous trials.
- Intravenous BPC-157 safety pilot in two adults, 2025
No adverse events were reported during this short test. It didn’t test injury healing or long-term safety.
- Yoshino and colleagues — NMN and muscle insulin sensitivity, 2021
A trial in prediabetic women. Muscle insulin sensitivity improved; body composition and a longer-term blood-sugar measure didn’t.
- Vinten and colleagues — human NAD+ precursor studies, 2025
Higher blood NAD+ didn’t consistently translate into health benefits. The review explains the remaining gaps.
- Jastreboff and colleagues — retatrutide obesity trial, 2023
Weight loss, stomach and bowel side effects, and heart-rate changes belong to the same trial account.
- Sanyal and colleagues — retatrutide and liver fat, 2024
Liver-fat measurements fell in this obesity-trial substudy. Longer-term health outcomes are a separate question.
- Jastreboff and colleagues — tirzepatide obesity trial, 2022
A trial in adults without diabetes. The result belongs to the people and conditions studied.
- Aronne and colleagues — tirzepatide against semaglutide, 2025
A direct comparison in adults with obesity without diabetes. Tirzepatide produced greater average weight loss.
Public records
For access questions, read the public record as well as the study. An approval, a warning and a withdrawn request tell different stories. A favorable result doesn’t replace an approval. Compounded medicines are not FDA-approved, even when a clinician writes a prescription.
- FDA — KPV evaluation, 2026
The FDA found no human studies or exposure data. That leaves human benefit and safety unanswered.
- DailyMed — Zepbound (tirzepatide) prescribing information
The medicine’s approved uses, eligibility rules and warnings. These don’t extend to every product carrying the molecule’s name.
- FDA — bulk substances with possible safety risks
The page current as of April 22, 2026 lists BPC-157 and KPV as nominated but withdrawn. Withdrawal isn’t clearance.
- FDA — questions and answers about compounding
Compounded medicines are not FDA-approved. A prescription and an approval mean different things.