Are unapproved peptides safe?
Until clinical trials are conducted, the safety of unapproved peptides also remains unknown.
Several popular peptides work by enhancing the body’s response to growth hormone, which doctors say could have an unintended consequence of promoting tumor growth.
The fact that people are experimenting with multiple peptides at once is also a concern as it isn’t clear how these drugs may interact with one another, says Topol, the longevity expert who has written about the risks of peptides.
An added worry is the legitimacy of products that people are purchasing off the gray market, Topol says. “They don’t know what they are getting. It could be saline, it may not even be sterile. They could get an infection. Who knows?” he says.
At least 20% of unapproved peptides tested since October by BTLabs, a drug-testing company, were found to be mislabeled, says Rina Dukor, a chemist and the company’s co-founder. For example, “the vial will say retatrutide,” an experimental obesity drug being developed by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, “but it’s actually semaglutide,” a GLP-1 drug, Dukor says. “Or it’ll say Glow, but it’s actually Klow, or vice versa,” she adds, referring to different peptide blends.
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