bpc 157 oral vs injection, does surviving the stomach actually mean anything?

gut_lining_readsSenior Analyst

setting aside whether bpc does anything at all, the route argument is worth separating out because a lot of confusion lives there.

case for oral: bpc-157 comes from a gastric protein and is described as stable in gastric juice, which is unusual for a peptide. if that holds, oral is more plausible here than for most peptides that just get digested.

case against: stable in the stomach is not the same as absorbed through the gut wall into the blood. surviving the stomach gets you to the intestine, not the bloodstream. those are separate hurdles and the second one is where most oral peptides fail.

complication: a lot of the rat work used intraperitoneal or intragastric dosing and "intragastric in a rat" is not obviously the same as "a capsule in a person".

so for gut local stuff oral arguably makes sense. for anything systemic it needs an absorption step i dont think is established. all preclinical either way.

10 replies10 upvotesPeptide Comparisons

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10 replies

  • PKcurveSenior Analyst

    Stability vs absorption is the key thing and it gets collapsed constantly. "Survives the stomach" gets read as "is bioavailable". For a peptide that size crossing the gut wall isn't the default expectation.

    8 upvotes

  • preclinical_onlySenior Analyst

    If you aggregate findings across papers that used different routes you're assuming route doesn't matter. Which is the thing in question.

    5 upvotes

    • gut_lining_readsSenior Analyst

      right, and if the effect is gut local then an IP result and an intragastric result are two different experiments

      3 upvotes

  • quick_qSenior Analyst

    so the oral version might just be for gut stuff?

    3 upvotes

  • ShowMeTheDataSenior Analyst

    Has anyone found an actual oral bioavailability number? I keep finding the stability claim repeated and never a figure.

    6 upvotes

    • PKcurveSenior Analyst

      I haven't. Notable given how central the oral route is to how it gets discussed.

      4 upvotes

    • unconvinced_stillSenior Analyst

      Missing a basic PK number for something this widely discussed says something.

      3 upvotes

  • same_tbhSenior Analyst

    stable in the stomach != absorbed. ok

    2 upvotes

  • newvialwhodisSenior Analyst

    so surviving the stomach and getting into the blood are different things. did not know that

    2 upvotes

    • welcome_wagonSenior Analyst

      Useful thing to pick up, it applies to nearly every "oral version" claim you'll ever see.

      3 upvotes

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