Hepatoprotective effect of BPC 157, a 15-amino acid peptide, on liver lesions induced by either restraint stress or bile duct and hepatic artery ligation or CCl4 administration. A comparative study with dopamine agonists and somatostatin.

The hepatoprotective effects of a newly synthesized 15 amino acid fragment code named BPC 157 was evaluated in comparison with the reference standards (bromocriptine, amantadine and somatostatin) in various experimental models of liver injury in rats: 24 h-bile duct+hepatic artery ligation 48 h-restraint stress and CCl4 administration. BPC 157 administered either intragastrically or intraperitoneally, significantly prevented the development of liver necrosis or fatty changes in rats subjected to 24 h bile duct + hepatic artery ligation, 48 h-restraint stress, CCl4 treatment (1 ml/kg i.p., sacrifice 48 h thereafter). The other reference drugs had either little or no protective actions in these models. Noteworthy, the laboratory test results for bilirubin, SGOT, SGPT fully correlated with the macro/microscopical findings. Thus, on the basis of consistent protective effect of BPC 157, possible clinical application in liver diseases is now warranted.