Evidence-level map for 10 research peptides

Build one CSV that classifies the published PubMed evidence base for 10 named research peptides: for each qualifying PubMed record, what kind of study it is (human randomized trial, other human study, animal, in vitro, or review only), in which species or system, with how many subjects, and what the study says it measured. Every row is checked against its PubMed record. This is a bibliographic map of what kind of evidence exists, not a judgment of whether any peptide works or is safe.

What is being mapped

The 10 peptides are fixed by peptides.csv (reproduced under Inputs). A peptide's accepted names are the names in its accepted_names field; a record that names the peptide under any accepted name, as a salt or acetate form, or (for GHK) as its copper complex, names that peptide.

A PubMed record is qualifying for a peptide when its PubMed title or abstract shows either:

• a primary study in which that peptide is a tested agent: it is administered, applied, or added to the study system, alone, in a formulation, or loaded in or conjugated to a carrier; or
• a review (narrative review, systematic review, meta-analysis, overview or editorial without new primary data) whose title names the peptide, or whose abstract discusses the peptide as one of its subjects.

A record is not qualifying for a peptide when, judged from its PubMed title and abstract, the peptide is only measured as an endogenous molecule, biomarker or gene product (for example blood levels of LL-37 or MOTS-c), when the matched text is an unrelated use of the same letters (for example "GHK" as an acronym for a programme name), when the study tests only a peptide with a different amino-acid sequence, or when the work is purely computational.

All facts in a row are read from the record as displayed on PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/{pmid}/): its title, abstract, DOI, publication date and publication types. Full texts are not needed and do not override the PubMed record.

Evidence levels

Each row gets exactly one evidence_level. When a record fits more than one, use the first that applies in this order:

Result meaning

The dataset records what kind of evidence each publication is and what it says it measured. It does not establish that any reported result is correct, that any peptide is effective or safe, or that the list of publications outside the checks below is complete.

evidence.csv columns, in this order: peptide,pmid,doi,publication_year,evidence_level,species_or_system,sample_size,primary_outcome_as_stated,section_or_page

• peptide is the peptide value from peptides.csv, written exactly as there (for example GHK, MOTS-c).
• pmid is the PubMed identifier, digits only.
• doi is the DOI shown on the PubMed record, lowercase, without a https://doi.org/ prefix; blank when the PubMed record shows no DOI.
• publication_year is the four-digit year of the record's publication date as shown on PubMed.
• evidence_level is one of the five values in the table above.
• species_or_system is human for the two human levels; the common name of the animal species for animal (for example rat, mouse, zebrafish; several species separated by ;); for in_vitro, the cell line, cell type, tissue or system as the abstract names it; not_applicable for review_only.
• sample_size is the total number of participants (human levels) or animals (animal) that the abstract states were enrolled, randomized or included; when the abstract states more than one such total, the largest. It is blank when the abstract states no such total, and always blank for in_vitro and review_only. Integer, no separators.
• primary_outcome_as_stated is a verbatim quote, at most 300 characters, from the record's title or abstract that states the study's primary outcome or endpoint; when no primary outcome or endpoint is stated, the sentence or clause stating the study's aim, objective or what was measured; for review_only, the stated aim of the review, or its title when the abstract states none. Parts of one sentence may be omitted with ...; every other character matches PubMed apart from whitespace and letter case. The quote describes what was measured or aimed for, not a result value.
• section_or_page is where the quote appears: title; abstract for an unstructured abstract; or abstract: followed by the heading of a structured abstract under which the quote appears, as PubMed prints it (for example abstract:OBJECTIVE).

A record that is qualifying for two peptides (for example a study of both semax and selank) is one row per peptide. No two rows share the same peptide and pmid.

provenance.md lists each such PMID with its peptide and one reason code: not_qualifying_endogenous_or_biomarker, not_qualifying_unrelated_term, not_qualifying_different_sequence, not_qualifying_computational, or not_qualifying_other followed by a one-sentence reason.

peptides.csv

peptide_number,peptide,accepted_names
1,thymosin beta-4,thymosin beta-4; thymosin beta4; thymosin beta 4; Tbeta4
2,GHK,GHK; GHK-Cu; glycyl-histidyl-lysine; glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine; copper tripeptide
3,BPC-157,BPC-157; BPC 157; BPC157; pentadecapeptide BPC 157
4,KPV,KPV; Lys-Pro-Val; lysine-proline-valine
5,epitalon,epitalon; epithalon; epithalone; AEDG; Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly
6,semax,semax
7,selank,selank
8,MOTS-c,MOTS-c; MOTSc
9,elamipretide,elamipretide; SS-31; Bendavia; MTP-131
10,LL-37,LL-37; LL37

Completeness snapshot

For each peptide the Poster ran the PubMed query below on 9 November 2026 and recorded every returned PMID. The query restricts to human-study publication types up to 31 October 2026. The PMID list that follows, not a later re-run of the query, is the snapshot; it deliberately includes records that are not qualifying (for example LL-37 and MOTS-c measured only as biomarkers, or "SS-31" and "GHK" used for unrelated things).

peptide_number,peptide,pmid
1,thymosin beta-4,17495250
1,thymosin beta-4,20536470
1,thymosin beta-4,20536472
1,thymosin beta-4,24882420
1,thymosin beta-4,25826322
1,thymosin beta-4,26022762
1,thymosin beta-4,27288307
1,thymosin beta-4,29482481
1,thymosin beta-4,34346165
1,thymosin beta-4,34607232
2,GHK,16847171
2,GHK,29482481
2,GHK,39636875
2,GHK,41872954
5,epitalon,12195242
6,semax,10741256
6,semax,11517472
6,semax,18379501
6,semax,29798983
7,selank,18454096
7,selank,25176261
7,selank,26356395
8,MOTS-c,32052315
8,MOTS-c,34351816
8,MOTS-c,34413391
8,MOTS-c,36490309
8,MOTS-c,38314601
8,MOTS-c,39111290
8,MOTS-c,40008510
8,MOTS-c,40674654
9,elamipretide,405283
9,elamipretide,22328192
9,elamipretide,26586786
9,elamipretide,27286183
9,elamipretide,27392509
9,elamipretide,28534645
9,elamipretide,28916603
9,elamipretide,29217757
9,elamipretide,29500292
9,elamipretide,32068002
9,elamipretide,32096613
9,elamipretide,33077895
9,elamipretide,34264994
9,elamipretide,36056411
9,elamipretide,37041653
9,elamipretide,37268435
9,elamipretide,37923251
9,elamipretide,38602181
9,elamipretide,39217569
9,elamipretide,39574155
9,elamipretide,40281531
9,elamipretide,40785393
10,LL-37,17039460
10,LL-37,17568755
10,LL-37,19114868
10,LL-37,19878298
10,LL-37,19943126
10,LL-37,20436715
10,LL-37,20610636
10,LL-37,20695797
10,LL-37,20806415
10,LL-37,21249386
10,LL-37,22246800
10,LL-37,22455725
10,LL-37,22531915
10,LL-37,22574737
10,LL-37,22805498
10,LL-37,23361158
10,LL-37,23553300
10,LL-37,23590701
10,LL-37,24398649
10,LL-37,24763694
10,LL-37,24771854
10,LL-37,25041740
10,LL-37,25089537
10,LL-37,25268344
10,LL-37,25354286
10,LL-37,25435436
10,LL-37,25931489
10,LL-37,26086941
10,LL-37,26375724
10,LL-37,26394045
10,LL-37,26545199
10,LL-37,26732025
10,LL-37,26921215
10,LL-37,27377698
10,LL-37,27488327
10,LL-37,27641738
10,LL-37,28094872
10,LL-37,28218580
10,LL-37,28228596
10,LL-37,28526374
10,LL-37,28956425
10,LL-37,29044786
10,LL-37,29091380
10,LL-37,29273721
10,LL-37,29402723
10,LL-37,31046155
10,LL-37,31264287
10,LL-37,31330899
10,LL-37,31797399
10,LL-37,31848359
10,LL-37,32291809
10,LL-37,32799924
10,LL-37,32867053
10,LL-37,33620550
10,LL-37,33678493
10,LL-37,33966252
10,LL-37,34102559
10,LL-37,34374425
10,LL-37,34687253
10,LL-37,36329435
10,LL-37,37276169
10,LL-37,37480520
10,LL-37,37605995
10,LL-37,37708314
10,LL-37,38483248
10,LL-37,38706151
10,LL-37,39097930
10,LL-37,39155711
10,LL-37,39181322
10,LL-37,39838042
10,LL-37,39940396
10,LL-37,40581810
10,LL-37,40810749
10,LL-37,40853451
10,LL-37,41299581
10,LL-37,41655688
10,LL-37,41953980
10,LL-37,42118446
10,LL-37,42598364
10,LL-37,42685028

• Valid Submissions are those meeting every acceptance criterion and no disqualification condition.
• The valid Submission with the lowest submission_call_count wins: ElgoraHub's bounty-wide count of accepted submissions at that call, so the earliest active valid Submission wins. Resubmitting replaces the active Submission and gives it a later count. The number of rows does not rank.
• If none is valid, the outcome is no_valid_submission.

• A submitted file states a dose, concentration, amount, route of administration, schedule, source of supply, or any instruction or recommendation for using a peptide. Quotes in primary_outcome_as_stated must omit such details with ....
• A submitted file states, in the Solver's own words, that a peptide is effective, safe or suitable for any use. Classifying a record's study type is not such a claim, and a verbatim PubMed quote in primary_outcome_as_stated is attributed to its source, not to the Solver.

• Medical advice, and any claim about efficacy, safety or appropriate use of any peptide. The dataset classifies publications only.
• Dosing, routes of administration, protocols, product sources and any instructions for use.
• Full-text reading, risk-of-bias or quality grading, and judging whether study results are scientifically correct.
• Records outside PubMed, and preprints not indexed in PubMed.

Correctness is decided only on the 20 checked rows, by comparing each with its PubMed record as displayed on PubMed. Completeness is decided only on the 3 checked peptides, by comparing their snapshot PMIDs with evidence.csv and provenance.md. Coverage and schema are decided on the whole of evidence.csv.