Get oriented
What is TB-500?
It is a lab-made piece of a larger protein. The details of that name matter.
In the US, medicines are reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, known as the FDA.
A short chain, made in a lab
A peptide is a chain of the small building blocks used to make proteins.
- TB-500 is made in a lab from 7 protein building blocks, with a small chemical addition attached to one end.
- The natural protein it copies a piece of, thymosin beta-4, contains 43 building blocks.
- The body makes the full thymosin beta-4 protein; TB-500 is the piece made in a lab.
TB-500 · 7 building blocks
Thymosin beta-4 · 43 building blocks
Read past the name
A smaller piece is a different substance
Check whether a study tested the short piece or the whole protein.
- The FDA says TB-500 and the whole thymosin beta-4 protein are different substances.
- The added chemical can change how the short chain acts. A study of the chain without that addition does not tell us how TB-500 would act.
- When someone shares a paper, ask which substance it tested.
Ask for more than a nickname
A useful answer names the substance clearly, rather than repeating a label.
- FDA reviewers found different versions of the ingredient sold under the same TB-500 name.
- Ask whether the claim concerns the short piece or the whole protein.
- Ask for the exact ingredient name in writing.