Human study PLS-00171

Discovery of thymosin β4 as a human exerkine and growth factor.

Other design · Not reported participants enrolled · not included in the assessments (other)

Version 1 · published November 8, 2026 · evidence through November 8, 2026 · research snapshot 2026.1.1 · methodology ev-1 · Automated assessment by AI (claude-opus-5-5 and claude-sonnet-5-5), not reviewed by a person.

Only the abstract was available. Essential methods may be missing, which limits what can be judged.

Reports of this study

Every publication, registration and abstract describing this one study. Participants are counted once.

Discovery of thymosin β4 as a human exerkine and growth factor.primary · American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2021-09-08 · PMID 34495765 · DOI

Design and participants

Design: Other design
Population: Exercising humans with or without insulin resistance (endogenous plasma measurement only), plus mouse and cell-culture experiments
Conditions: insulin resistance, diet-induced obesity (mice)
Planned enrollment (registry): Not reported
Enrolled: Not reported
Randomized: Not reported
Completed follow-up: Not reported
Funding: Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't (publication type); funder not named in the record

Intervention and comparator

What each group received. Related peptides, analogs and combinations are never treated as the compound itself.

What the authors reported

As stated in the sources. This is the authors’ account, not Peptide Library’s assessment.

Adverse events

None reported. That is not evidence of safety, and how safety was monitored isn’t described.

The authors concluded (paraphrased): The authors identify thymosin β4 as a human exerkine that rises in plasma with exercise. It did not improve obesity-related metabolic changes or muscle regeneration in mice, but it promoted osteoblast proliferation and neurite outgrowth in cells.

Peptide Library’s assessment

An automated assessment, made by AI separately from the authors’ conclusions and not reviewed by a person. How risk of bias is assessed.

Limitations

other: Humans were not administered thymosin β4; only endogenous plasma levels during exercise were measured.
abstract only: Only the abstract is available, with no participant numbers, methods detail or results values.
inappropriate population: Treatment effects were tested in mice and cultured cells, not in humans.

No risk-of-bias assessment has been published for this study’s results.

Claims this study informs

Improves dry eye signs and symptoms: not eligible (not primary study) for “Ocular discomfort and corneal staining”
Is safe for human administration: not eligible (not primary study) for “Adverse events, serious adverse events and discontinuations”

Where each value comes from

author_conclusion: PMID 34495765, abstract (sentences 5-6) · extracted by AI (automated, not verified by a person) · abstract only
design: PMID 34495765, abstract (sentences 2-4) · extracted by AI (automated, not verified by a person) · abstract only
funding: PMID 34495765, citation (publication types) · extracted by AI (automated, not verified by a person) · abstract only
limitations: PMID 34495765, abstract (sentences 3-4) · extracted by AI (automated, not verified by a person) · abstract only
population: PMID 34495765, abstract (sentence 3) · extracted by AI (automated, not verified by a person) · abstract only

Version 1 · published November 8, 2026 · evidence through November 8, 2026 · research snapshot 2026.1.1 · methodology ev-1 · Automated assessment by AI (claude-opus-5-5 and claude-sonnet-5-5), not reviewed by a person.

These assessments describe published research. Records marked automated were produced by AI under the published methodology and have not been reviewed by a person; they can contain errors. None of this is medical advice, not a statement about any product’s safety for human use, and not a regulatory approval. Peptide Library’s vendor and partner relationships play no part in them (editorial independence).