Evidence table
Every study on this site, in one table
28 studies across 4 peptides, each one graded by how strong it is and linked to its PubMed record. This is the whole evidence base behind every page here. 11 review. 5 small human study. 5 animals. 4 human trial. 2 cells in a dish. 1 systematic review.
Sources checked 2026-08-24. Sorted strongest first. Nothing on this page is a recommendation and no amounts appear anywhere on this site.
Count the rows before you read them. Most of what is sold as a peptide has been tested in mice, in cells, or in a dozen people with no comparison group. A long table is not a strong table, so we show you the grade in every row.
| Peptide | Who or what was studied | What was found, and the catch | Source | Where we use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GHK-Cu | Human trial n = 13 people | After laser skin resurfacing, a copper-peptide cream did not beat control on measured redness or wrinkles; patients did report liking it more. Limit: Thirteen people, a cream, one subjective win. | Miller 2006 PMID 16847171 | Skin and aging GLOW KLOW |
| TB-500 | Human trial n = 73 people | In people with leg ulcers, thymosin beta-4 was as safe as placebo and a minority of treated patients healed fully. Limit: One mid-stage trial; benefit over placebo was modest. | Guarnera 2010 PMID 20536470 | Wound healing KLOW |
| TB-500 | Human trial n = 9 people | Thymosin beta-4 eye drops eased discomfort and surface damage in severe dry eye versus placebo. Limit: Nine people, eye drops, many comparisons. | Sosne 2015 PMID 25826322 | GLOW |
| TB-500 | Human trial n = 96 people | In a 96-patient heart-attack trial, the main result was not statistically significant; a timing subgroup showed smaller infarcts. Mice showed less heart damage. Limit: Used the full recombinant protein, not the TB-500 fragment sold. | Zhang 2025 PMID 41229390 | GLOW |
| BPC-157 | Systematic review n = 36 studies, 1 human | Of 36 studies, 35 were in animals, where healing of tendon, ligament, muscle and bone improved. The one human study was small and retrospective. Limit: Review says plainly: no clinical safety data exist for BPC-157. | Vasireddi 2025 PMID 40756949 | Injury recovery GLOW KLOW |
| BPC-157 | Small human study n = 16 people | Patients given BPC-157 for knee pain mostly said they felt better when phoned months later. Limit: No control group, no imaging, relies on memory by phone. | Lee 2021 PMID 34324435 | Injury recovery GLOW KLOW |
| BPC-157 | Small human study n = 12 people | Women with stubborn bladder pain reported big improvements after BPC-157. Limit: Twelve people, one clinic, no comparison group. | Lee 2024 PMID 39325560 | GLOW KLOW |
| BPC-157 | Small human study n = 2 people | Two adults showed no change in heart, liver, kidney, thyroid or sugar markers after BPC-157. Limit: Two people. Far too few to call anything safe. | Lee 2025 PMID 40131143 | GLOW |
| GHK-Cu | Small human study n = 20 (blood levels only) | People with COPD had lower blood GHK; in mice, GHK-Cu reduced smoke-related muscle loss. Limit: The human part only measured blood levels; the treatment effect is in mice. | Deng 2023 PMID 36905132 | GLOW |
| GHK-Cu | Small human study n = 29 people | A scalp routine with a copper-peptide serum plus a scrub reduced flaking over 15 days. Limit: No control group, company-employed authors, peptide mixed with other actives. | Patel 2024 PMID 39449909 | Skin and aging GLOW |
| GHK-Cu | Animals | GHK-Cu packed into liposomes sped healing of scald burns in mice. Limit: Burn model, and a special delivery form rather than plain GHK-Cu. | Wang 2017 PMID 28370978 | Wound healing GLOW |
| KPV | Animals | A gut transporter moved KPV into intestinal cells, and that uptake went with less inflammation. Limit: Mice only. | Dalmasso 2008 PMID 18061177 | Gut inflammation KLOW |
| KPV | Animals | KPV reduced inflammatory cell build-up in mice about as well as the full hormone. Limit: Mechanism study, not a disease outcome. | Getting 2003 PMID 12750433 | Gut inflammation KLOW |
| KPV | Animals | In two mouse models of bowel inflammation, KPV reduced colitis severity. Limit: Mice only; paper notes KPV is hard to deliver and unstable. | Kannengiesser 2008 PMID 18092346 | Gut inflammation KLOW |
| KPV | Animals | KPV packed into nanoparticles eased mouse colitis better than KPV alone. Limit: Results may owe as much to the nanoparticle as to KPV. | Xiao 2017 PMID 28143741 | Gut inflammation KLOW |
| BPC-157 | Review | Rodent studies suggest faster healing of tendon, ligament and muscle. Limit: Animal data only; not confirmed in people. | Gwyer 2019 PMID 30915550 | Injury recovery KLOW |
| BPC-157 | Review | Broad activity in animal injury models, but not approved for human use anywhere for lack of clinical data. Limit: Narrative and patent review. | Józwiak 2025 PMID 40005999 | GLOW |
| BPC-157 | Review | Describes proposed ways BPC-157 might help wounds heal, such as nitric oxide signaling and new blood vessels. Limit: Mechanisms come from rat models. | Seiwerth 2021 PMID 34267654 | Injury recovery KLOW |
| GHK-Cu | Review | Questions whether GHK in skin products reaches where it would need to act, and calls the effectiveness data thin and inconsistent. Limit: Narrative review. | Mortazavi 2025 PMID 39963574 | Skin and aging KLOW |
| GHK-Cu | Review | Reviews evidence that GHK-Cu changes the activity of many genes tied to repair and inflammation. Limit: Written by the peptide's discoverer; gene correlations, not patient outcomes. | Pickart 2018 PMID 29986520 | Skin and aging GLOW KLOW |
| GHK-Cu | Review | Summarizes lab evidence that GHK can raise collagen and other skin-structure molecules. Limit: Same author group; no controlled human trial evaluated. | Pickart 2015 PMID 26236730 | Skin and aging Wound healing KLOW |
| TB-500 | Review | Explains how thymosin beta-4 binds actin, the cell's scaffolding protein. Limit: Structure only, not a treatment study. | Bubb 2003 PMID 12852258 | KLOW |
| TB-500 | Review | Summarizes thymosin beta-4's role in cell movement and tissue repair and lists trials then under way. Limit: Author helped develop the compound. | Goldstein 2012 PMID 22074294 | Injury recovery GLOW KLOW |
| TB-500 | Review | How thymosin beta-4 was found as the cell's main actin-binding peptide. Limit: Basic science, not treatment. | Hannappel 2007 PMID 17468232 | GLOW |
| TB-500 | Review | Says phase 2 wound trials found faster repair and good tolerability. Limit: Cites the authors' own work; trial reports not separately checked here. | Kleinman 2016 PMID 27450738 | Wound healing GLOW KLOW |
| TB-500 | Review | Animal studies suggest less heart damage after injury. Limit: No human heart outcome trials cited. | Pipes 2016 PMID 27450736 | KLOW |
| BPC-157 | Animals | Rat tendon cells in a dish grew out and moved more with BPC-157. Limit: Cells only. | Chang 2011 PMID 21030672 | Injury recovery GLOW |
| KPV | Cells in a dish | In human skin cells in a dish, KPV switched on an anti-inflammatory signal. Limit: Cells only. | Elliott 2004 PMID 15102092 | KLOW |
How the grades work
Cells in a dish never touched a living animal. Animals means mice or rats, usually. Small human study means a handful of people with no comparison group. Human trial means people were randomly split into treated and untreated groups, which is the only kind that can show an effect is real. Review and Systematic review sum up other studies rather than running one. Full rules: How we check.
What is not in this table
Studies we could not find, studies behind a paywall with no readable abstract, and anything we have not read ourselves. We add a row only after checking the PubMed record. If we got one wrong, it goes in the fixes log with the date.
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