A University of Missouri physician is warning people about the potential dangers of injecting unregulated peptides that have not been approved by federal safety and health regulators.
Peptides are amino acids that regulate body functions. The body makes its own – including insulin and oxytocin – but drug companies and retailers make injectable or oral peptides, too.
If you've been on social media, watched cable television commercials or listened to a podcast recently, it's likely you've seen peptide hormones advertised to help everything from pale skin to muscle soreness.
"I think any time you're getting something from someone who financially benefits from your purchase in medicine, you should be concerned about your purchase and look into it really thoroughly," said Dr. Regina DePietro, an MU Health Care community and family medicine physician.
One of the best-known peptide-based medications is GLP-1, which is sold under brand names including Ozempic. Unlike unapproved products like BPC-157 and other injectables, Ozempic has gone through the Food and Drug Administration's drug screening process, DePietro said.
That process includes animal studies, small patient studies and clinical trials, larger trials and post-market surveillance.
Online retailers and compounding pharmacies are frequently pushing unregulated peptides, she said. They are often labeled as being "for research purposes."
"When you have unregulated medication, we don't have that post-market surveillance making sure that our medications are safe and are actually what they say they are," DePietro said. "Does that mean that these will never be safe and studied? No. These might become medications that are approved eventually. I just think we don't have the research yet."
The popularity of Ozempic and other GLP-1s have introduced peptides to the masses and made people less squeamish about medicines they inject themselves, DePietro said.
She said that if you are curious about a peptide, you should ask a doctor about it first.
Health experts have raised concerns that peptides that lack FDA approval could cause immune issues, be contaminated or cause unintended side effects.
There is also a chance that some products may be ineffective or fraudulent, leaving consumers with little to show for their money and potentially putting their health at risk.
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