# Tendon, Ligament, and Muscle Injury, Osteotendinous, Myotendinous, and Muscle-to-Bone Junction Therapy Perspectives with Growth Factors and Stable Gastric Pentadecapeptide BPC 157—A Review

## TL;DR

This review explores how growth factors and BPC 157 can help heal tendon, ligament, and muscle injuries, especially at complex junctions.

## Contribution

Highlights BPC 157's unique cytoprotective effects for healing musculoskeletal junctions without complex delivery systems.

## Key findings

- Growth factors like PDGF and TGF-β1 show limited efficacy in muscle and junctional healing.
- BPC 157 demonstrates consistent healing effects across tendon, ligament, and junctional injuries in rat studies.
- BPC 157 works systemically or locally without needing carriers or scaffolds.

## Abstract

As a novel theoretical and practical advantage, preclinical to clinical evidence, this systematic review of PRP, growth factors, and stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 efficacy in complex musculoskeletal and junctional injuries emphasizes the cytoprotection concept, healing to restore tissue integrity. Notably, the concept holds tendon, ligament, and muscle healing, in particular. Then, it holds their healing together as interconnected lesions. Consequently, this review presents the possibilities for cytoprotective therapies suited for tendon/ligament/muscle and recovery of osteotendinous, myotendinous, and the muscle-to-bone junction. The estimated key was the success of injury recovery amid each agent’s direct exogenous administration, alone or with a carrier, locally or systemically, without reliance on complex scaffolds, carriers, or tissue-engineering constructs. As reviewed, while with commonly acknowledged physiological significance, and acting throughout cytoprotection principles, growth factors (PDGF, TGF-β1, IGF-1, FGF, VEGF, BMPs) delivered locally with various carriers improve tendon, ligament, and muscle healing; however, some (PDGF, TGF-β1, IGF-1) may fail in muscle lesions, and all show limited or no efficacy in junctional healing. Contrarily, proposed as a cytoprotection mediator, BPC 157 acts alone with a full cytoprotection range, given systemically or locally. Moreover, without any carrier, BPC 157 acts alone, combining beneficial effects on tendon, ligament, and muscle injuries with osteotendinous, myotendinous, and muscle-to-bone healing. In rat studies, across systemic (intraperitoneal, intragastric, or drinking water) and local (cream) administration, BPC 157 consistently demonstrated efficacy, indicating considerable translational potential. Further clinical studies will strengthen cytoprotective therapy and, particularly, BPC 157 in complex musculoskeletal and junctional injuries.