Glow 70
Glow 70 is not a single molecule. It is a laboratory blend of three separate research peptides: BPC-157, a synthetic 15-residue peptide (GEPPPGKPADDAGLV) characterised as the fragment thought essential for the activity of a larger protein isolated from gastric juice; TB-500 / thymosin β4, the 43-residue acidic peptide shown to be indistinguishable from Fx, the factor complexed with the bulk of unpolymerised actin in resting human platelets; and GHK-Cu, the plasma tripeptide glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine complexed with Cu(II). No published study has administered the three together, so every finding below belongs to one constituent studied on its own and none of it characterises the combination. The name TB-500 is used inconsistently across the market — the sequence carried for this blend is full-length thymosin β4, whereas veterinary and doping-control laboratories describe TB-500 preparations whose key ingredient is the much shorter N-acetylated fragment Ac-LKKTETQ. None of the three constituents has an approved pharmaceutical formulation for systemic human use — reviews record no approved formulation, no validated dosing regimen and no completed phase 2 trial for BPC-157 — and BPC-157, TB-4 and TB-500 are all described as banned in sport.
Information on this page is provided for laboratory research reference. The compound is not a drug, supplement, or medical product, and is not for human or veterinary use, ingestion, or consumption.
No reviewed report has been published for this product family yet. The molecular values opposite are public reference data, not results measured on a CRX sample.
Browse published reports →The three constituents are grouped by a shared claim about tissue repair rather than by a shared molecular target, and none has an established mechanism in humans. Thymosin β4 is the best characterised: it is indistinguishable from the platelet actin-sequestering peptide Fx, forms a 1:1 complex with G-actin that inhibits salt-induced polymerisation, and in mouse cardiac work was reported to form a functional complex with PINCH and integrin-linked kinase that activates Akt. GHK is proposed to act as a copper carrier rather than a receptor agonist, competing with albumin for Cu(II) — at equimolar albumin and peptide about 42% of the Cu(II) was bound to the peptide in equilibrium dialysis — and delivering it in a form fibroblasts respond to with increased collagen synthesis and coordinated MMP-2 and TIMP expression; how much of the activity is the copper rather than the peptide is unsettled, since copper ions alone reproduced the MMP-2 effect in fibroblast culture while the uncomplexed tripeptide did not. BPC-157 is the least defined of the three: its most developed mechanistic proposal is pro-angiogenic upregulation and internalisation of VEGFR2 with downstream VEGFR2–Akt–eNOS signalling, demonstrated in cultured human vascular endothelial cells and accompanied by increased vascular VEGFR2 expression in a rat hind-limb ischaemia model. Two pharmacokinetic results complicate the whole picture: intact BPC-157 had an elimination half-life under 30 minutes in rats and beagle dogs, which a 2026 biopharmaceutical review frames as a pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic disconnect against reported effects lasting hours to days; and a 2024 metabolite study concluded the wound-healing activity attributed to TB-500 may belong to its metabolite Ac-LKKTE rather than to the parent peptide.2,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
Binds actin monomers stoichiometrically in a 1:1 complex and inhibits salt-induced polymerisation; thymosin β4 was shown to be identical to Fx, the peptide holding most unpolymerised actin in resting human platelets2
Reported formation of a functional complex with PINCH and ILK, resulting in activation of the survival kinase Akt in cardiac cells9
Pro-angiogenic N-terminal tetrapeptide released from thymosin β4; knockdown of thymosin β4 in mouse heart reduced AcSDKP, and injected AcSDKP enhanced endothelial differentiation from adult epicardial precursors without rescuing mutant hearts16
GHK forms Cu(II) complexes across a wide pH range and competes with albumin for copper; solution spectroscopy indicates a mononuclear 1:1 nitrogen-coordinated complex involving the histidyl imidazole. Proposed to facilitate copper transfer from plasma to tissue10,17
Increased MMP-2 protein and mRNA together with its inhibitors in fibroblast culture, read by investigators as matrix remodelling rather than synthesis alone. Copper alone reproduced the MMP-2 effect; the uncomplexed tripeptide did not12
Increased collagen synthesis in fibroblast culture and raised type I and III collagen mRNA in rat wound chambers11,18
Acts as a chemoattractant for human umbilical vein endothelial cells, stimulating Boyden-chamber migration four- to sixfold over medium alone and increasing matrix metalloproteinase production; of the primary cell types tested only human coronary artery cells also responded19
Increased VEGFR2 mRNA and protein and promotion of receptor internalisation in cultured human vascular endothelial cells, with time-dependent VEGFR2–Akt–eNOS activation that was suppressed by the endocytosis inhibitor dynasore; VEGF-A expression was not increased. The same study reported enhanced vascular VEGFR2 expression and faster blood-flow recovery in rat hind-limb ischaemia13
Tissue repair
A 2026 narrative review in the American Journal of Sports Medicine assessed BPC-157, thymosin β4 / TB-500 and GHK-Cu side by side: human orthopaedic data are lacking for thymosin β4 and TB-500, no clinical data support GHK-Cu for musculoskeletal conditions, and the BPC-157 human evidence rests on a single case series with significant methodological flaws and no controls.7
In a multicentre randomised evaluator-blinded placebo-controlled trial in patients with diabetic neuropathic plantar ulcers, all receiving sharp debridement and pressure-relieving footwear, topical GHK-Cu gel reached 98.5% median area closure versus 60.8% for vehicle (p < 0.05); in ulcers larger than 100 mm² the separation was 89.2% versus −10.3% for vehicle (p < 0.01).20
In a prospective randomised evaluator-blinded trial in 86 patients with venous stasis ulcers, a 0.4% tripeptide copper complex cream did not differ from inert vehicle in ulcer size reduction, while 1% silver sulfadiazine was statistically superior to both.21
In a single-centre double-masked placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in 72 subjects with moderate-to-severe dry eye under a controlled adverse environment model, thymosin β4 ophthalmic solution missed both primary endpoints: neither ocular discomfort nor inferior corneal staining differed significantly from placebo. Several secondary endpoints did, including a 27% reduction in discomfort scores on day 28 versus placebo (p = 0.0244) and improved central and superior corneal staining versus control (p = 0.0075 and p = 0.0210).22
The only human musculoskeletal report involving these peptides is a retrospective single-clinic chart review with telephone follow-up, not a trial: 17 charts were reviewed and 16 patients given intra-articular BPC-157 for mixed causes of knee pain were reached, of whom 11 of the 12 who received BPC-157 alone self-reported significant improvement and 3 of the 4 who received it with thymosin β4 did so. No control group, no blinding, no validated outcome instrument, no imaging, and the arms were never compared statistically.23
In rats whose Achilles tendon was surgically transected, animals given BPC-157 showed higher load-to-failure and Young's modulus, higher Achilles functional index scores and smaller macroscopic tendon defects than saline-treated controls through day 14.24
In a rat full-thickness wound model, thymosin β4 applied topically or intraperitoneally increased re-epithelialisation by 42% over saline controls at day 4 and by as much as 61% at day 7, with treated wounds contracting at least 11% more than controls by day 7 alongside increased collagen deposition and angiogenesis.25
Skin & matrix
In a rat wound-chamber model, GHK-Cu produced concentration-dependent increases in chamber dry weight, DNA, total protein, collagen and glycosaminoglycan content, with type I and III collagen mRNA raised while TGF-β mRNA was unchanged.18
In fibroblast cultures, GHK-Cu increased MMP-2 protein and mRNA together with the inhibitors TIMP-1 and TIMP-2; copper salt alone reproduced the MMP-2 effect whereas the uncomplexed tripeptide did not, so the active species differs by endpoint.12
What investigators recorded alongside the results above, at the rates their papers state.
No study has ever administered BPC-157, thymosin β4 / TB-500 and GHK-Cu together, so there is no safety record of any kind for this combination — no interaction data, no combined toxicology, no human exposure. Reviews covering all three note that combination-therapy effects remain an explicit knowledge gap. Everything below concerns a single constituent given on its own.7,26
no data
There is no clinical safety dataset for BPC-157. A 2025 systematic review of 36 studies found preclinical safety studies reporting no adverse effects across several organ systems but recorded that no clinical safety data were found, and flagged additional risk from unregulated manufacturing and contamination. A 2026 biopharmaceutical review notes that all available clinical data derive from fewer than 30 subjects across three uncontrolled pilot studies, none of which used a standardised pharmaceutical preparation, and identifies the absence of a characterised formulation and of validated human pharmacokinetics as the primary translational barrier.6,8
no clinical safety data
The entire published human safety record for intravenous BPC-157 is a two-participant open-label pilot at a single private clinic over two consecutive days, reporting no side effects and no measurable change in cardiac, hepatic, renal, thyroid or blood-glucose biomarkers. Both participants had received intravenous BPC-157 before enrolling, and with two people, no randomisation and no control arm this establishes very little.27
0 of 2 participants, as reported
Adverse events were infrequent and mild or moderate in intensity, with no dose-limiting toxicities and no serious adverse events, across four ascending-dose cohorts of 10 healthy subjects each given intravenous thymosin β4 or placebo as a single dose and then daily for 14 days over a 42–1260 mg range. This is the most substantial systemic human safety dataset for any constituent of this blend.28
infrequent, mild or moderate; no serious adverse events and no dose-limiting toxicity, as reported
Ulcer infection during topical treatment of diabetic neuropathic plantar ulcers occurred in 7% of ulcers treated with GHK-Cu gel immediately after the initial debridement versus 34% of vehicle-treated ulcers (p < 0.05) — a lower infection rate on treatment, not an excess. No other adverse-event data are given in the published abstract of this trial.20
7% versus 34% with vehicle (ulcer infection)
In a keratinocyte-based in-vitro model, GHK-Cu was not cytotoxic and did not significantly upregulate skin-irritation biomarkers (IL-1α, IL-8, HSPA1A, FOSL1), whereas copper chloride and copper acetate at 58 and 580 µM did so without concomitant loss of cell viability, leading the authors to conclude that chelated copper has a low potential to induce skin irritation. This is a cell-based assay in keratinocytes, not clinical safety data, and the study presents no human sensitisation or systemic copper-toxicity outcome.29
no data for systemic exposure
- 1.A new gastric juice peptide, BPC. An overview of the stomach-stress-organoprotection hypothesis and beneficial effects of BPC. · Journal de Physiologie (Paris) · 1993 · PMID 8298609
- 2.Thymosin beta 4 and Fx, an actin-sequestering peptide, are indistinguishable. · The Journal of Biological Chemistry · 1991 · PMID 1999398
- 3.Growth-modulating serum tripeptide is glycyl-histidyl-lysine. · Experientia · 1977 · PMID 858356
- 4.The effect of thymosin treatment of venous ulcers. · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2010 · PMID 20536470
- 5.Doping control analysis of TB-500, a synthetic version of an active region of thymosin β₄, in equine urine and plasma by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. · Journal of Chromatography A · 2012 · PMID 23084823
- 6.Emerging Use of BPC-157 in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine: A Systematic Review. · HSS Journal · 2025 · PMID 40756949
- 7.Injectable Peptide Therapy: A Primer for Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Physicians. · The American Journal of Sports Medicine · 2026 · PMID 41476424
- 8.BPC-157 as an Investigational Peptide Therapeutic: Biopharmaceutical Challenges, Formulation Strategies, and Translational Development Barriers. · Pharmaceutics · 2026 · PMID 42198317
- 9.Thymosin beta4 activates integrin-linked kinase and promotes cardiac cell migration, survival and cardiac repair. · Nature · 2004 · PMID 15565145
- 10.The interaction of copper(II) and glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine, a growth-modulating tripeptide from plasma. · The Biochemical Journal · 1981 · PMID 7340824
- 11.Stimulation of collagen synthesis in fibroblast cultures by the tripeptide-copper complex glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine-Cu2+. · FEBS Letters · 1988 · PMID 3169264
- 12.The tripeptide-copper complex glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine-Cu2+ stimulates matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression by fibroblast cultures. · Life Sciences · 2000 · PMID 11045606
- 13.Therapeutic potential of pro-angiogenic BPC157 is associated with VEGFR2 activation and up-regulation. · Journal of Molecular Medicine · 2017 · PMID 27847966
- 14.Pharmacokinetics, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of body-protective compound 157, a potential drug for treating various wounds, in rats and dogs. · Frontiers in Pharmacology · 2022 · PMID 36588717
- 15.Simultaneous quantification of TB-500 and its metabolites in in-vitro experiments and rats by UHPLC-Q-Exactive orbitrap MS/MS and their screening by wound healing activities in-vitro. · Journal of Chromatography B · 2024 · PMID 38382158
- 16.Thymosin beta4 induces adult epicardial progenitor mobilization and neovascularization. · Nature · 2007 · PMID 17108969
- 17.Structure of the Glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine--copper(II) complex in solution. · Biochemistry · 1982 · PMID 6291585
- 18.In vivo stimulation of connective tissue accumulation by the tripeptide-copper complex glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine-Cu2+ in rat experimental wounds. · The Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1993 · PMID 8227353
- 19.Thymosin beta 4 stimulates directional migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. · The FASEB Journal · 1997 · PMID 9194528
- 20.Enhanced healing of ulcers in patients with diabetes by topical treatment with glycyl-l-histidyl-l-lysine copper. · Wound Repair and Regeneration · 1994 · PMID 17147644
- 21.A prospective randomized evaluator-blinded trial of two potential wound healing agents for the treatment of venous stasis ulcers. · Journal of Vascular Surgery · 1992 · PMID 1495150
- 22.Thymosin beta 4 ophthalmic solution for dry eye: a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase II clinical trial conducted using the controlled adverse environment (CAE™) model. · Clinical Ophthalmology · 2015 · PMID 26056426
- 23.Intra-Articular Injection of BPC 157 for Multiple Types of Knee Pain. · Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine · 2021 · PMID 34324435
- 24.Gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 accelerates healing of transected rat Achilles tendon and in vitro stimulates tendocytes growth. · Journal of Orthopaedic Research · 2003 · PMID 14554208
- 25.Thymosin beta4 accelerates wound healing. · The Journal of Investigative Dermatology · 1999 · PMID 10469335
- 26.Therapeutic peptides in gerontology: mechanisms and applications for healthy aging. · Frontiers in Aging · 2026 · PMID 42021992
- 27.Safety of Intravenous Infusion of BPC157 in Humans: A Pilot Study. · Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine · 2025 · PMID 40131143
- 28.A randomized, placebo-controlled, single and multiple dose study of intravenous thymosin beta4 in healthy volunteers. · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2010 · PMID 20536472
- 29.Selected Biomarkers Revealed Potential Skin Toxicity Caused by Certain Copper Compounds. · Scientific Reports · 2016 · PMID 27892491