Peptides to Help Heal Eyes

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Today we’re going to talk about how peptides might actually help heal your eyes.

If that sounds wild, stick with me. There’s some amazing early research showing how specific peptides may help with things like macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, corneal wounds, and even age-related vision loss. We’re going to break it all down in plain language, and I’ll also explain how each peptide might actually work inside the eye.

Let’s jump in.

AXT107 

Let’s start with AXT107 — a peptide designed to help stop the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the back of the eye. These rogue vessels are a major problem in conditions like wet macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

AXT107 is an injection that’s given directly into the eye that targets VEGF and angiopoietin receptors, two major players in abnormal blood vessel growth. In animal studies, it not only stopped new vessels from forming, but also reversed existing damage. Bonus? It forms a little gel-like depot in the eye that slowly releases over time, so it may last longer than current injection-based treatments.

BPC-157 

If you’ve heard of peptides for gut repair or injury recovery, you’ve probably come across BPC-157. But it’s also being studied for the eye, especially for corneal healing.

BPC-157 eye drops seem to speed up corneal epithelial repair — that’s the outer layer of your eye — while reducing inflammation. In rat studies, it helped close up corneal wounds faster, which means it might help with things like dry eye, abrasions, or even post-surgical healing. In fact, while most corneal abrasions fully heal within one to two weeks, BPC-157 can reduce the healing time by several days.

Elamipretide (SS31) — The Mitochondria Booster

This next peptide is especially intriguing — Elamipretide, also known as SS31. You might remember we’ve mentioned it before for its potential in age-related and neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. But now, researchers are also exploring its role in slowing or even reversing age-related vision decline when given as an eye or subcutaneous injection.

This peptide goes deep — literally — into the mitochondria of retinal cells, helping them work more efficiently. In aging mice, Elamipretide improved contrast sensitivity and even reversed some vision loss. So it’s not just slowing decline — it may actually restore function.

P21 

The next peptide is P21. P21 is a neurotrophic peptide, which means it helps keep nerve cells healthy. In the eye, that’s a huge deal for preserving vision.

P21 protects photoreceptors and retinal pigment cells, while also calming inflammation when given as a subcutaneous injection. In aging rats with retinal damage, it helped reduce nerve cell death and slowed degeneration.

Visoluten 

Now let’s talk about Visoluten, an oral peptide we’ve discussed before in a previous podcast. As a refresher, it’s important to remember that Visoluten is a bioregulatory peptide that helps support the health of the retina—the part of your eye that converts light into the images you see. It works by supporting the metabolic activity of eye tissues, helping maintain healthy vision and improving the eye’s ability to adapt to stress, aging, or challenging environmental conditions.

Think of it like nutritional support for the eye — especially helpful for people dealing with screen fatigue, bright light exposure, or chronic eye stress. 

This peptide helps support the eye’s natural metabolic activity, which is key to keeping the retina functioning well and protecting it from things like oxidative stress and environmental wear and tear. Think of it as giving your eyes extra support to stay resilient, especially when they're under strain.

Visoluten may also enhance blood flow to the eye, making sure the retina gets the oxygen and nutrients it needs to work properly. That’s especially important for people with conditions like age-related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy, where poor circulation and tissue damage are part of the problem.

Retinalamin 

Another oral peptide, Retinalamin, is already being used in some clinica