TB-500 Dosage Guide: Reconstitution, Units and Loading Protocol

TB-500 is a synthetic version of a peptide fragment studied in laboratory and animal models for cell-movement and tissue-repair pathways. It ships as a freeze-dried (lyophilized) powder, commonly in a 2 mg, 5 mg, or 10 mg vial, and has to be reconstituted with bacteriostatic water before any volume can be measured. This guide covers the arithmetic and the structure of common reference schedules: how vial strength and diluent volume set concentration, how a milligram figure converts to units on an insulin syringe, and how loading and maintenance phases differ.

Everything here is third-person reference information for research and educational use. It is not dosing advice, and TB-500 is not approved for human consumption. Any decision about whether or how much to use belongs with a licensed clinician. To run your own numbers instead of the worked examples below, use the TB-500 calculator.

The three numbers that drive the math

Reconstitution reduces to one concentration value and two conversions. You need the vial strength in milligrams, the volume of bacteriostatic water you add in milliliters, and the dose you want to express, in milligrams.

• Concentration = vial strength / water volume. A 5 mg vial in 2 mL gives 2.5 mg/mL.
• Draw volume = dose / concentration. A 2 mg figure at 2.5 mg/mL is 0.8 mL.
• Units = draw volume x 100 on a U-100 insulin syringe. 0.8 mL is 80 units.

Reconstituting a 5 mg and 10 mg vial

A 5 mg vial with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water gives 2.5 mg/mL, a common reference setup because whole-milligram figures land on round units. A 10 mg vial in the same 2 mL gives 5 mg/mL, which halves the units for the same milligram figure.

• 5 mg vial at 2.5 mg/mL: 2 mg = 0.8 mL = 80 units
• 5 mg vial at 2.5 mg/mL: 2.5 mg = 1.0 mL = 100 units
• 10 mg vial at 5 mg/mL: 2 mg = 0.4 mL = 40 units
• 10 mg vial at 5 mg/mL: 5 mg = 1.0 mL = 100 units

At 2.5 mg/mL a 5 mg vial holds two reference draws of 2.5 mg. At 5 mg/mL a 10 mg vial holds five draws of 2 mg. Adding more water lowers the concentration and raises the unit count for the same milligram figure, which can make a small volume easier to read on the barrel. The reconstitution calculator handles the same steps for any vial and water combination.

Loading phase versus maintenance phase

Reference protocols for TB-500 in the literature are often framed in two phases, separated by how often a draw is taken rather than by changing the per-draw amount. The milligram figure per draw is frequently described in a similar range across both phases; the frequency is what shifts.

• Loading phase: a larger weekly total spread across more frequent draws, commonly discussed over a span of several weeks.
• Maintenance phase: the same per-draw figure taken less often, reducing the weekly total once the loading span ends.

A worked example of the weekly arithmetic, using a 5 mg/mL concentration (a 10 mg vial in 2 mL) and a 2 mg reference draw at 40 units each: a loading week with two draws totals 4 mg (80 units of liquid across the week), while a maintenance week with one draw totals 2 mg (40 units). These figures are arithmetic illustrations of how frequency changes the weekly total, not recommendations.

Mapping milligram figures to units

Once the vial is mixed, the only step left is converting your target milligram figure to units at that concentration. The list below shows the two standard concentrations side by side. These are arithmetic conversions, not dosing guidance.

• 1 mg: 40 units at 2.5 mg/mL, 20 units at 5 mg/mL
• 2 mg: 80 units at 2.5 mg/mL, 40 units at 5 mg/mL
• 2.5 mg: 100 units at 2.5 mg/mL, 50 units at 5 mg/mL

If you change the vial size, the water volume, or the target figure, recompute from scratch rather than reusing an old unit count. The broader peptide dosage calculator and the mg to units converter isolate these steps, and BPC-157 is often discussed alongside TB-500 in repair-pathway research if you want the comparison context.

Handling and storage notes

General references describe reconstituted peptides as kept refrigerated and used within roughly a few weeks. Bacteriostatic water (saline with benzyl alcohol) is the usual diluent for multi-draw vials because the preservative limits microbial growth between draws. Aim the water down the vial wall rather than at the powder, and swirl rather than shake to avoid foaming. See how to reconstitute peptides for the full handling sequence.