Dr. Stickler is the Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Apeiron ZOH Corporation. The company focuses on optimizing health, well-being and performance through precision genomics and epigenetic science. He is a visionary pioneer behind systems-based precision performance medicine, a new paradigm that redefines medicine from the old symptoms-based disease model to one of limitless peak performance in all aspects of life.
Dr. Stickler is the Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder of Apeiron ZOH Corporation. The company focuses on optimizing health, well-being and performance through precision genomics and epigenetic science. He is a visionary pioneer behind systems-based precision performance medicine, a new paradigm that redefines medicine from the old symptoms-based disease model to one of limitless peak performance in all aspects of life.
Dr Stickler speaks to IIOL about peptides and their role in preventive and performance based medicine.
Could you explain what exactly are peptides?
Dr. Stickler: Right now peptides are available by prescription in the United States, and Australia, which lead the way in this regard. But they're also available through research companies that supposedly aren't approved for human use, but I know a lot of biohackers that have experimented with them.
A peptide is a sequence of amino acids. Most of these peptides are based on current proteins that are produced in our system already. So some of the earliest ones are the growth hormone releasing peptides and hormones. But these are either identical to peptides that the body naturally produces or they are slight modifications of that or segments of that, like insulin. The thyroid hormone is a peptide hormone, just a sequence of amino acids.
What has happened now is we've been able to take things like the growth hormone molecule and take a segment of the amino acids, because it is pleiotropic, which means it has different receptors on different cells that this one protein can activate, this one polypeptide. We can chop it up and find the amino acid segments that are the key for the lock on certain cells. Like we have one called AOD, which is an advanced obesity drug that was originally developed because it specifically is the stimulator of a receptor only on the abdominal fat cells. We also found this on chondrocytes in the joints. The animal trials were really strong in that they can target specifically abdominal fat and do nothing else in the entire body. However, that didn't translate well into human trials but they found that it worked really well with stimulating cartilage to regenerate. So now, even though it's called an advanced obesity drug, it's being used as injections into joints. But it doesn't do anything else in the body which is really cool. This is the precision nature of the interventions that peptides have given us.
Photo credit: shutterstock.com
A peptide is a sequence of amino acids. Most of these peptides are based on current proteins that are produced in our system already.
We have peptides that will assist with erections, we have peptides that will give you a tan. We have peptides that substantially increase the cognitive performance of a person. And these aren't just about enhancement, we've got a lot of cognitive peptides, like Cerebrolysin, Selank and Semax that are really amazing in their abilities to mitigate Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and many of these are in clinical trials. Peptides are massively exploding in what they're capable of doing. And there's a prediction that almost 70 percent of medicine will be shifting to peptides within the next five years. They are easy to sequence, not excessively expensive, and more specific and direct than pharmaceuticals. So it's a really exciting field to be in and seeing this grow. But there are not a lot of human trials, which is the downside of this. This is because they are not expensive to make and not something that is very easy to get a patent for, because there are easy modifications you can make to avoid patent infringement. So there's not a lot of money being invested into researching peptides right now.
There are a couple of studies that are out there that are looking at interventions in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson's, that are really amazing. They are trying to patent and they're working on a different modifications but there are also versions of it that are available just in the research chemical market online.
What kind of future do you envisage for that field? Do you think it will eventually become an official medicine or will it stay in the field of biohacking for people experimenting with it?
Dr. Stickler: I see it as a major part of current medicinal interventions. And it's interesting because peptides cross all realms. I have friends who are naturopaths and chiropractors that are really into peptides because they are made out of our own biology as opposed to synthetic chemicals. Not that I judge anything based on whether it's a synthetic chemical versus natural because it's all just an input into the human system. We really need to take a look at this and say: “Let's take an unbiased approach to it and not classify something as ‘Oh, well, this one's evolutionarily tested’ or anything like that”. It doesn't make any sense to me.
I get this a lot with people who are into plant medicine, and they say, “The purpose is because it’s evolutionarily tested”, but you can't get around the fact that substances like ayahuasca and psilocybin are plant toxins. They were developed to prevent plants from being eaten, and now we're using them for our outcomes. But we have to look at the outcome and say: “This is what it's doing in the brain.” And ask what is the difference with substances like MDMA or ketamine that makes them better or worse? That's the thing, it's not a judgment call. It's just an input that creates an outcome and you want to measure that and see what that means.
Is it the case that there are hardly any side effects of peptides?
Dr. Stickler: The really interesting thing about peptides is that they are notoriously safe, mainly because they are developed based on processes in the body. They have a remarkable feedback mechanism in regard to growth hormone-releasing hormones such as Tesamorelin, and CJC, and growth hormone releasing peptides, Ipamorelin, Hexarelin, GHRP-2, GHRP-6. So if you overdose on those, the body doesn't allow it to overexpress. You can't abuse them and expect to have results. With testosterone, you can increase the dose and get an increased response. With growth hormone, you can do the same thing but you create a nonphysiological response. With peptides, you have feedback mechanisms in the majority of them that tell the body: yes, I can function at this top level, but not get into a superphysiological or excessive range with it, because of the feedback mechanisms that are put into place.
Photo credit: shutterstock.com
I have friends who are naturopaths and chiropractors that are really into peptides because they are made out of our own biology as opposed to synthetic chemicals.
Does that mean you don't need to measure the levels of a certain peptide - you can just try it and see if it helps?
Dr. Stickler: Yes, it's much less intensive as far as testing is concerned. Most of the time, when people go on growth hormone, we measure IGF-1 levels, which is one of the products that growth hormone causes to be released, but it's easy to measure. And when you administer growth hormone, you get excessive amounts of IGF-1, and the higher the dose, the more you're going to get. But if you're using growth hormone releasing hormone or growth hormone releasing peptide, what happens is that IGF-1 level goes up, it feeds back to the brain and the pituitary and says we need to decrease the receptors of the growth hormone releasing hormone and the growth hormone releasing peptides and increase simvastatin, which limits the production of growth hormone. So it's got that system in place. You can measure it, but it's not necessary because you're not going to get excessive amounts with peptides. With the growth hormone itself, you can get that because you're bypassing all the regulatory mechanisms.
It’s just very interesting to work in this realm and with clients that are using peptides. We've got a whole host of them, such as new ones in the cognitive realm that will give you four hours of really high productivity, high focus without giving you the stimulatory effect of modafinil or Adderall and other stimulants. We have things like Dihexa, which is a cream that you can apply on the arm and it absorbs, and the effect it has on learning and memory is seven orders of magnitude more powerful than BDNF and it creates new connections in the brain. That means it's 10 million times stronger than BDNF (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor). It’s huge and safe. There are some concerns that one of the systems that it regulates can cause cancer, but we don't use this on an ongoing basis, just short term use for specific things. Then we have things like Semax, which is a nasal spray that works for about four hours, but you get four hours of really super-focused productivity without the stimulant effect. There is just amazing stuff that's out there that is specific to what you want to accomplish.
You said, you don't use those substances on an ongoing basis. So how often do you recommend people use them?
Dr. Stickler: It depends on which substance you're using. Some of them are used to recover from illness. We have a lot of people with Lyme or chronic mold illness in the United States and things like Melanotan II, which is the tanning peptide, interestingly, upregulates expression of α-MSH in the brain and it mitigates all of the symptoms that are associated with chronic inflammatory response syndrome. But at the same time, you can also do a Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) nasal spray that's based on a peptide that is identical to the one the body produces. But it's an antiviral and antimicrobial peptide. So it upregulates the ability to rid the system of the mold and Lyme toxins. People will use that in conjunction with the Melanotan while they recover, and then once they have recovered, stop using it. With the growth hormone releasing hormones and peptides, people generally do a six to eight week period with them, and then they take six to eight weeks off, where they still maintain decent levels. And they run another cycle and depending on where they get to, and the symptom relief that they get, it all varies by each person.
Photo credit: shutterstock.com
It’s just very interesting to work in this realm and with clients that are using peptides. We've got a whole host of them, such as new ones in the cognitive realm that will give you four hours of really high productivity, high focus without giving you the stimulatory effect of modafinil or Adderall and other stimulants.
If people in Europe wanted to get access to one of your coaches and be guided on the use of peptides, is that possible at the moment? How could people get access to those substances and advice on them?
Dr. Stickler: In Europe, they're not legal for human consumption. In the United States, you have the ability to personally experiment on yourself and there is sovereignty of the human. I don't know what the rules are in Europe. And as long as we don't use controlled substances to experiment with, we don't get in trouble. But as a medical provider or a coach, you can't give directed advice on but you can educate people on it. So our coaches are trained in how to use this stuff, but it's purely educational. Right now, only physicians can prescribe it and can really talk about it from the standpoint of making health recommendations. But there are a lot of biohackers that just want some educational guidance, they're going to say, “I'm going to do this, with or without you, but I would love to have you at least give me some oversight of it to help guide me in this, but I'm going to do it”. And those are the people that the coaches can work with and even give them ideas, like: “You might want to look at this one peptide that has been shown to work in this, just do your research on it and decide whether you want to self-administer it or not. But in Europe, I know, there are a lot of people that order peptides from US-based research medical companies, and they've not had any problems shipping them into Europe. We feel those regulations will gradually increase.
We are hoping to open a medical center in London here in the next couple of months and it is a limitation for us that peptides aren't available there, as they are with our clients here. But I think eventually, Europe will move into the prescription realm.
Apart from opening a center in London soon, what else are you focusing on at the moment?
Dr. Stickler: We have an online training academy for our coaches. That's our big push right now. We have 250 coaches worldwide with quite a few from the EU region already. And we're going to be coming to Europe to speak. In late June, early July, we're going to do a live training event in London and one in Amsterdam, where we will introduce health coaches and clinicians to our model. Then we have around 100 hours of online training, where we train the precision performance model. We teach how to read genetic data, how to utilize that data, and then how to create lifestyle plans based on the science of epigenetics. So that's where our main focuses are right now, but we're also opening multiple medical centers. We have two already in the United States, with two more getting ready to go online, and then this one in London, probably this year.
