How Are Research Peptides Used?

Research peptides are essential peptides used for scientific research. They are deemed safe and work well in patients or subjects. They have also been accepted as an effective and practical therapeutic application. This has caused peptides to become highly disabled in pharmaceutical research and development as it produces the potential for medical and experiment uses. There is a considerable need for them to enhance progress in those two areas.

 

Research Peptides As Restorative Medicine

Peptides have a crucial role in the human body. The 7000 naturally peptides effect:^[1]
1. Hormones
2. growth factors
3. neurotransmitters
4. ion channel ligands
5. Anti-infectives

The scientists report that “Extracted peptides have been evaluated as possible therapeutic agents for a wide range of diseases, including antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic and anticancer activity as well as cardiovascular and neurotoxin activity.”

Peptides are essential and successful in sending molecules to bind to cell surface receptors. Once the molecule reaches its receptor, it causes intracellular effects. Peptides have proven to be safe and bearable in clinical subjects. It also maintains high selectivity, potency, and a predictable metabolism. Therefore, research peptides show immense potential for growth for therapeutic development.

Metabolic diseases and oncology are fueling peptides-based research currently.^[2] For example, researchers suggest that there is “utility of targeting peripheral gut peptides, including pancreatic polypeptide, peptide YY, amylin, and the gastric hormone ghrelin.” In the past few years, there has been a surge in obesity and type 2 diabetes globally but specifically in North America. Due to this rise, researchers immersed themselves in the development of peptides therapeutics in order to treat these conditions. There has been a call to find new methods–with peptide to treat cancer due to increased mortality rates from Chemotherapy. Not only is oncology and metabolic an area where peptides has overtaken, but it has also reached infectious diseases, inflammation, and rare disease. Peptide research has also proven to aid in diagnostics and vaccination as well.^[3] Moreover, they need to be in experiments and developmental laboratories so that future research and studies can uncover the true therapeutic potentials of peptides in future medicines.

 

Are Peptides Replacing Medicine?

One can only use peptides for in-vitro studies (outside the body experiments) or experimentations. While many peptide therapeutics are being tested, researchers and scientists worldwide are using peptides in a lab setting. In this lab setting, they want to investigate areas of the peptide they have not looked at before by pushing the boundaries on research peptides for pharmaceutical use. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved over 60 peptide-based medicines.^[4] Two such examples are:
1. LupronTM, which is used to treat prostate cancer
2. VictozaTM, which is used to treat type 2 diabetes
However, it is important to note that these FDA- approved drugs are not research peptides. These drugs are medicines that healthcare professionals may prescribe to treat specific conditions or diseases.

Research peptides are only used for in-vitro studies or research and are not FDA approved for any medical use (treatment, prevention, curing).^[5] They may only become medicines when they have undergone many meticulous clinical trials and have the stamp of approval from the FDA.

 

References

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1. Sable, R., Parajuli, P., & Jois, S. (2017). Peptides, Peptidomimetics, and Polypeptides from Marine Sources: A Wealth of Natural Sources for Pharmaceutical Applications. Marine drugs, 15(4), 124. doi:10.3390/md15040124
2. Greenwood, H. C., Bloom, S. R., & Murphy, K. G. (2011). Peptides and their potential role in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. The review of diabetic studies : RDS, 8(3), 355–368. doi:10.1900/RDS.2011.8.355.
3. Thundimadathil J. (2012). Cancer treatment using peptides: current therapies and future prospects. Journal of amino acids, 2012, 967347. doi:10.1155/2012/967347.
4. Al Shaer, D., Al Musaimi, O., Albericio, F., & de la Torre, B. G. (2022). 2021 FDA TIDES (Peptides and Oligonucleotides) Harvest. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), 15(2), 222. doi:10.3390/ph15020222.
5. Martínez-Villaluenga, C., & Hernández-Ledesma, B. (2020). Peptides for Health Benefits 2019. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(7), 2543. doi:10.3390/ijms21072543.

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