LL-37 Reference

Educational, not medical advice reference for LL-37: Immune, Recovery; regulatory status, evidence posture, source review, and schedule notes. A…

Plain English

What it is
LL-37 is the only germ-fighting peptide the human body makes from a family called cathelicidins. It is not an FDA-approved medicine. It is sold as a research chemical, not a medicine.
What people use it for
In the peptide community people reach for it hoping to fight stubborn infections, slimy bacterial biofilms, and to give the immune system a boost. That hopeful framing runs ahead of what has actually been proven.
What the science shows
Almost everything known comes from lab-dish and animal studies. In those settings it can kill a broad range of bacteria, viruses, and fungi and may help with immune signaling and wound healing. Solid human proof for LL-37 on its own is still thin.
The catch
It is not approved and the human evidence is limited. At higher amounts LL-37 can flip and harm the body's own cells, and its real-world use is held back because it is unstable and gets broken down fast.

Reference summary

Published literature is dominated by antimicrobial, chemotactic, and wound-healing research across in vitro, ex vivo, and small translational studies. Direct human clinical efficacy evidence for LL-37 as a standalone therapy is limited.

Regulatory and posture

Categories
Immune, Recovery
Aliases
Cathelicidin LL-37, hCAP18 C-terminal fragment, CAP-18 (104-140)
Evidence posture
preclinical - Mostly in vitro, ex vivo, and animal data. Human clinical evidence for LL-37 as a standalone therapy is limited.
Regulatory status
No FDA-approved LL-37 drug label. LL-37 is the mature antimicrobial cathelicidin fragment studied for antimicrobial, immune-modulation, and wound-healing roles, mostly in preclinical and translational work.
Content review status
research reference

Selected public sources

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For research and educational purposes only. Not medical advice.