Dangers of Injectable Peptides and Other Unregulated "Biohacking" Drugs.

Review

“This review differentiates evidence-based therapeutics from unproven, high-risk compounds and outlines the molecular mechanisms of toxicity associated with popular “looksmaxxing” injectables.”

Injectable peptides used for cosmetic and athletic enhancement

“Injectable peptides are increasingly used without prescriptions for cosmetic and athletic enhancement, driven by digital marketing and social media.”

Unregulated substances lack established human safety profiles

“These unregulated substances—including the veterinary anabolic steroid trenbolone, investigational triple-agonists like retatrutide, and unapproved peptides such as BPC-157, TB-500, and melanotan-II—lack established human safety profiles.”

Use of unregulated substances introduces risks including contamination, impurities, and pathological angiogenesis

“Their use introduces severe potential risks, including product contamination, manufacturing impurities, inaccurate dosing, pathological angiogenesis, carcinogenesis, cardiovascular stress, and supraphysiological hormonal signaling.”

FDA-approved peptides offer clinical benefits under medical supervision

“While evidence-based, FDA-approved peptides like semaglutide and tirzepatide offer significant clinical benefits under medical supervision, an expanding illicit market provides easy access without a prescription to many unapproved experimental drugs.”