Synthesis and characterization of the N-terminal acetylated 17-23 fragment of thymosin beta 4 identified in TB-500, a product suspected to possess doping potential.
Esposito. Simone S; Deventer. Koen K; Goeman. Jan J; Van der Eycken. Johan J; Van Eenoo. Peter P
Key Findings
- TB‑500 contains the N‑terminal acetylated 17‑23 fragment Ac‑LKKTETQ of human thymosin beta‑4.
- The fragment was chemically synthesized using solid‑phase peptide synthesis.
- A high‑performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry method was developed to detect the fragment in plasma and urine.
Practical Outcomes
- For biohackers this work mainly indicates that TB‑500 can be chemically verified and potentially screened for in anti‑doping tests. It offers no actionable dosing guidance, safety information, or performance benefits.
Summary
The study only shows how researchers identified a tiny fragment of the TB‑500 peptide and built a lab test to detect it in blood or urine, without any data on health effects, dosing, or how to use it.
Abstract
The formulation TB-500 is suspected to be used as doping agent in sport. This work describes the detection and the identification of the N-terminal acetylated 17-23 fragment of human thymosin beta 4 (Ac-LKKTETQ) in TB-500 by means of high-performance liquid chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry using an Orbitrap Exactive benchtop mass spectrometer. Ac-LKKTETQ was also synthesized by solid-phase peptide synthesis, and an analytical strategy for detection in plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography/low resolution triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry was suggested.
Study Information
pubmed
2012
2012-09-07T00:00:00.000Z
10.1002/dta.1402
26
11