If you could inject yourself with a substance that purports to make you tanner, fitter and healthier, would you? Many people are saying âyes.â
Online, social media influencers tout vials of substances with names like BPC-157 or Sermorelin, promising great skin, a lean body or easy muscle recovery. Scores of followers have started injecting themselves, with the most serious users even buying them from online gray markets.
Some peptides â such as those used in weight-loss treatments like semaglutide â are prescribed by doctors and carry few risks. But is it safe to take substances you buy online? UVA Today talked to UVA Healthâs director of obesity medicine, Dr. Cate Varney, to find out.
Q. What is a peptide?
A. âPeptidesâ typically refer to synthetic or naturally derived short amino acid chains used as injectable or oral therapies that are marketed for weight loss, anti-aging, muscle recovery and performance enhancement. These range from FDA-approved medications, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists (Wegovy, Zepbound) for weight loss, to unregulated compounds with minimal or no human safety data.
Dr. Cate Varney is UVA Healthâs director of obesity medicine. (Contributed photo)
Q. How do peptides work?
A. People believe peptides work through diverse mechanisms targeting longevity pathways, mitochondrial function, immune enhancement, neuroprotection and metabolic regulation. The proposed mechanisms range from well-validated (FDA-approved GLP-1 agonists for weight loss) to highly speculative (epitalon, thymosin alpha-1, MOTS-c) with limited or no human clinical validation.
Q. Peptides reportedly can do everything from darken tans to help recovery from an injury. Are they really effective?
A. The effectiveness of peptides varies dramatically by compound and intended use. For tanning (melanotan), peptides do work, but carry serious safety risks. For injury recovery (BPC-157, TB-500), animal studies show promise, but human clinical evidence is essentially nonexistent.
The unregulated nature of most âhealth optimizationâ peptides poses significant safety concerns. Melanotan peptides are effective at inducing skin darkening through stimulating melanin production in our skin. Clinical trials show that injections produce significant tanning, and when combined with sun or UV exposure, it increases the effects.
However, unregulated melanotan products pose serious risks, including multiple case reports that describe melanomas â a very dangerous skin cancer â emerging from existing moles shortly after melanotan use.
These products are not FDA-approved for tanning, and multiple national health organizations have issued safety warnings against them. There is only one FDA-approved (Scenesse), which is only for increasing pain-free light exposure in adults with a serious sun sensitivity.
Q. Is it safe to inject yourself with a medication at home?
A. Self-injection of FDA-approved peptides at home is generally safe when using properly manufactured products after patients receive appropriate education. However, I have strong reservations and concerns about self-injection of non-FDA-approved or compounded peptides that carry significant risks, including contamination, dosing errors and serious adverse events such as compartment syndrome (dangerous muscle pressure buildup) that can lead to surgery or even death, as documented by FDA reports.
Q. What are potential side effects?
A. FDA-approved peptides (Saxenda, Wegovy, Zepbound) cause gastrointestinal side effects like nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in up to 80% of patients, with rare serious events including gallstones or inflammation of the pancreas. Generally, they are mild and well-tolerated.
