by – TB-500 is an injectable peptide drug which can be used to promote healing, enhance range of motion in cases of injury, or reduce pain in case of injury by reducing inflammation. As yet its human use has been relatively uncommon and limited to individuals who like to experiment. Use in race horses has been more widespread, though it’s not a prescription veterinary drug.
When to use TB-500
I’d recommend considering TB-500 in cases of acute injury where, as judged from experience, healing might otherwise be slow, or in cases of chronic injury where healing otherwise simply isn’t occurring.
The types of injury that are aided include tendinitis and muscle tears or strains, but may include many types of muscle and connective tissue injury, as well as skin injury. Where muscle injury results in impaired flexibility, TB-500 can provide substantial improvement. With regard to racing horses, it’s claimed to prevent the formation of adhesions. Whether this is true in humans or even horses I cannot say, but there’s substantial indication that it helps treat existing adhesions.
Possible increased effect from combining TB-500 with GH, or a GHRP
While TB-500 can be remarkably effective administered alone, at least some persons will experience better results with TB-500 taken together with GH than with TB-500 alone.
Alternately, compared to using TB-500 alone, healing effect can be improved by combining TB-500 with a GHRP (such as GHRP-2, GHRP-6, ipamorelin, or hexarelin), or a GHRP / Mod GRF stack.
Of those two approaches, from results I presently believe the TB-500 / GH stack to be the more effective.
How to use TB-500
TB-500 is typically provided as lyophilized (freeze-dried) powder in vials of 2.0 mg. A convenient amount of sterile or bacteriostatic water will be added, such as 1.0 mL. In the most common dosing protocol, the entire vial is taken at one time. If taking the entire vial, the entire amount will be drawn into a syringe, typically an insulin syringe, and injected. Injection may be subcutaneous, intramuscular, or intravenous, according to personal preference.
The most common dosing protocol is to take 2.0 or 2.5 mg of TB-500 twice per week for four to six weeks, and then reduce to a lower dosing rate such as once or twice per month for maintenance.
The body of knowledge is as yet limited with regard to TB-500 dosage. The above protocol may or may not be the most efficient, but it is the protocol with the most track record. It’s entirely possible that as knowledge is gained, method of use will change. A reasonable possibility, for example, is to increase dosing frequency to 3x/week (which I have done personally to good effect), or to increase dosing to 4 or 5 mg twice per week. Before going to such a program, however, I recommend trying the standard protocol first.
If interested in animal uses, a typical dosing protocol for horses is a course of six 10 mg injections at 7-10 day intervals. For more intensive treatment, 20 mg is used weekly. For racing dogs, a typical protocol is a course of six 5 mg injections taken weekly.
Pharmacological class of TB-500
TB-500 is a short peptide segment or fragment of the naturally-occurring thymosin beta-4 hormone (TB-4.) To be clear, TB-500 most emphatically is not TB-4, although it’s often sold under that name. TB-4 itself is as yet an extremely pricey, rare research material that is not yet available to bodybuilding or to equine enhancement.
In the body, TB-4 is produced is the thymus, a gland which is at its largest in children, atrophies as adulthood progresses, and is virtually non-existent in the elderly. It is also produced locally in various cells, and is particularly found in wound fluids, as well as in fairly high concentration in the cytoplasm of some cells. In various studies, TB-4 has been found able to promote various forms of wound healing, to promote differentiation of stem cells, and to reduce inflammation.
Protein hormones such as TB-4 do not bind in their entirety to a receptor site, as they are too large to fit. Instead, an active region of the protein fits into receptor sites.
The TB-500 peptide sequence is identical with the active region area of TB-4 and shares many and possibly all of the properties of TB-4, in a form which is more economical to produce.
Other activities of TB-500
TB-500 has been known to promote at least partial regrowth of hair which has been lost to male-pattern baldness, to darken at least a portion of hair which has grayed, and is reported to enhance muscle mass in horses. The latter effect may be due to promoting differentiation of satellite cells. Bodybuilders who have used TB-500 for healing purposes have however generally not reported such an effect. However, it might be that the effect occurred, but was attributed to other causes, or that effect did not occur because TB-500 is generally used only when injured, which tends not to be a time of training for best gains.
I wouldn’t use TB-500 for the purpose of mass gains, but while using it would keep in mind that uninjured body parts might obtain a benefit from its use, and would train uninjured weak body parts especially hard while doing a TB-500 course, on the chance of benefit. In my personal use, it does seem likely there was some such effect, without having had the knowledge beforehand of muscle gain in horses. I had no expectation of muscle size or “quality” benefit at all.
Conclusion
TB-500 is a peptide which can be quite beneficial for healing of injuries, both acute and chronic, and for treatment of tendinitis. It can also improve flexibility where this has been impaired by injury, and in some cases has partially regrown lost hair. The ordinary course of treatment is 2.0 or 2.5 mg taken by injection twice per week for 4-6 weeks, followed by monthly or twice-monthly injection of 2.0 or 2.5 mg as needed.
