Tissue Repair Bench
KLOW and ARA-290, one name at a time
Overview
KLOW is sold as an 80 mg co-lyophilized multi-component vial, and the market calls it GHK-Cu, BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV. the listing names none of them. this bench takes the four names apart, adds ARA-290 as the comparison, and says what a COA can and cannot settle.
Read this first
the two products on this page are research use only; the other four names are discussed, not sold. the only document that says what a KLOW vial holds is the certificate for that lot. nothing here is an amount, a schedule, or a route.
The bench: 6 compounds
roles and evidence, not amounts. this page does not publish doses or schedules for research compounds.
1KLOWno data as a blend
the vial as sold: 80 mg total, co-lyophilized, multi-component. BHG Labs states no components and no per-component amounts on the listing; both are deferred to the lot COA. the four-peptide identity below comes from the market name, not from the vendor.
evidence: no study of a four-way GHK-Cu, BPC-157, TB-500 and KPV preparation has been published in any species. the closest pairing is BPC-157 with the TB-500 fragment in a rat Achilles tendon model, eight rats per group.
watch for: a certificate that gives one purity number and no per-component quantitation does not describe a blend. ask whether it names each component, gives an amount for each, and reports sequence or exact mass for each. copper(II) catalyzes oxidation of neighboring peptide residues (shown for glucagon); whether GHK-Cu degrades its vial-mates has never been tested.
2BPC-157no peer-reviewed human trial
read the guidethe 15-amino-acid sequence derived from a gastric-juice protein, with no identified molecular target and roughly 200 PubMed papers, most of them from the Sikiric group.
evidence: no randomized human trial published as a full paper. the ulcerative colitis 'phase 2' is a 2005 meeting abstract the FDA reads as null. the rest is a retrospective knee-pain chart review, an interstitial cystitis pilot, and an intravenous safety pilot in two people. a 2025 systematic review counted 35 preclinical studies to one clinical and found no clinical safety data.
watch for: FDA put it in 503A category 2 in September 2023 for immunogenicity risk, impurity and characterization complexity, and 'no, or only limited' safety information; it left that list in April 2026 only because the nominators withdrew, which is not a safety clearance. WADA S0, prohibited at all times. angiogenesis through VEGFR2 is shown in chick membrane, rat and cell work, and no carcinogenicity study of any kind exists.
3TB-500no human trials of the fragment
read the guidea seven-amino-acid acetylated fragment (Ac-LKKTETQ) of thymosin beta-4, which is a 43-amino-acid peptide. the two are not the same molecule, and the market ships at least three different things under the TB-500 name.
evidence: for the fragment itself: nothing in people, and the one registry entry that looks like a trial (NCT07487363) describes itself as a fictional example record. for the full-length peptide, the published trials are topical or ophthalmic: two dry-eye phase 2 studies and a venous ulcer phase 2; a pressure ulcer phase 2 is complete. the three ARISE dry-eye trials are complete, without a paper i could find. the RegeneRx injectable studies were withdrawn before enrolling anyone, a separate Chinese recombinant program has finished two phase 1 studies and is in phase 2 for heart attack with nothing published, and the epidermolysis bullosa programs were terminated.
watch for: WADA S2.3, prohibited at all times, with TB-500 named. FDA's concern is immunogenicity from aggregation and impurities plus a total absence of human exposure data. the cancer signal in the literature is on the endogenous peptide's expression in tumors, not on an injected fragment.
4GHK-Cutopical human trials only
read the guidethe copper-binding tripeptide. the positive human data is topical: a randomized diabetic-ulcer trial. the negative human data is topical too: it did not beat placebo on venous ulcers where silver sulfadiazine did, and a laser-resurfacing trial found no objective skin improvement.
evidence: no controlled human trial of injected or systemic GHK-Cu has been published. the 'gene expression reset' story is a Broad Institute connectivity-map hit in lung-tissue signatures plus fibroblast culture, generalized by review articles.
watch for: how much copper a vial delivers is unpublished. FDA lists injectable GHK-Cu with 'limited data in humans'.
5KPVanimal and cell only
read the guidethe C-terminal tripeptide of alpha-MSH. in cell lines it dampens NF-kB signaling; in mice it eased chemical colitis, mostly when wrapped in nanoparticles or hydrogels, because free KPV is unstable.
evidence: no human exposure data by any route, in the FDA's words. no registered trial.
watch for: after the first paper, every efficacy study had to protect the peptide to get it anywhere. a lyophilized vial does none of that.
6ARA-290small human trials
read the guidethe one compound here with a randomized human record beyond topical wound trials. an 11-amino-acid piece of erythropoietin's helix B, built to keep the tissue-protective signal and drop the red-cell one.
evidence: sarcoidosis small-fiber neuropathy: a 22-patient pilot reported symptom improvement and a 28-day subcutaneous study added corneal nerve density gains; the 64-patient phase 2b hit its corneal nerve fiber endpoint only in the middle arm and missed on pain. a diabetic neuropathy phase 2 and a 36-volunteer healthy study exist. not approved by FDA or EMA, no completed phase 3, and the sponsor has ceased operations.
watch for: non-erythropoietic by design and in animals, with no hematologic signal in the small trials; no trial reported hematocrit as an outcome. WADA S0.
Form
lyophilized vials, as sold
Human data
small randomized trials for ARA-290; topical trials only for GHK-Cu; no controlled trial in print for BPC-157; none for the TB-500 fragment, KPV, or the blend
BHG Labs carries
2 of 6
Level
advanced
Why these together
the four names get bundled because each carries a repair story: BPC-157 for tendon and gut in rats, thymosin beta-4 for wounds and eyes in people, GHK-Cu for skin, KPV for gut lining in mice. ARA-290 sits beside them as the comparison, the one with a randomized program past topical gels. side by side, the evidence shapes do not match.
Overlap
BPC-157 and thymosin beta-4 both promote new vessels and both dampen inflammatory signaling in rodent models; that is where the overlap ends. thymosin beta-4 binds actin, BPC-157 has no identified target. the pair has been used together in one uncontrolled knee series (full-length thymosin beta-4) and one rat tendon study (the TB-500 fragment). GHK-Cu and KPV overlap with nothing here except the word repair.
Conflicts
zinc supplements with GHK-Cu: zinc and copper compete for gut absorption, which is why zinc treats Wilson disease; whether that matters for a copper peptide that does not go through the gut is untested. Wilson disease: a copper complex runs against the treatment by mechanism; no study has looked. cancer history: BPC-157 and thymosin beta-4 promote vessel growth in animal and cell work; no carcinogenicity study exists for BPC-157, the thymosin beta-4 signal is its expression in human tumors rather than a dosing study, and the ARA-290 phase 2b excluded recent malignancy. anticoagulants with BPC-157: rat data only, from one group, never tested in a person. erythropoiesis-stimulating agents or biologic anti-inflammatories with ARA-290: excluded from its phase 2b.
What the evidence actually is
ARA-290: randomized trials with a surrogate-endpoint win and a pain miss. thymosin beta-4: published topical and ophthalmic trials, withdrawn RegeneRx systemic studies, one unpublished Chinese systemic program, terminated epidermolysis bullosa programs. GHK-Cu: one positive and two negative topical trials, nothing systemic. BPC-157: rat work and a null abstract, roughly 200 papers mostly from one group. KPV: mice and rats. the blend: nothing published.
What people report
the market's promise is faster recovery. no controlled human study has measured recovery for any of the four names outside topical wound care; the self-reports STAT collected for BPC-157 were itch, anxiety and anhedonia; and the one blend harm report in the FDA file, causality not established, involved a BPC-157 plus TB-500 research vial.
Who It's For
people who have been sold a four-name vial and want to know which names have human data, which have rat data, and which have a COA problem
What to Track
any local reaction, the COA fields on the lot you received, any itch, anxiety or mood change
Sourced at BHG Labs
Ownership disclosure: BHG Labs and BodyHackGuide are commonly owned. When you buy from BHG Labs, the team behind this site benefits, so read the evidence sections above with that in mind. Third-party COA on every lot. Research use only. Code BHG20 takes 20% off at checkout, and the store links below apply it for you.
BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu and KPV are not sold on their own at BHG Labs.
Read the compound guides
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