KPV+GHK-Cu Blend 10mg/50mg

At a glance

Also known as

KPV + GHK-Cu; Lys-Pro-Val with copper tripeptide-1

CAS number

67727-97-3 (KPV); 89030-95-5 (GHK-Cu)

Molecular formula

C16H30N4O4 (KPV); C14H23CuN6O4+ (GHK-Cu)

Molecular weight

342.43 g/mol (KPV); 402.92 g/mol (GHK-Cu)

Sequence

Lys-Pro-Val (KPV) and Gly-His-Lys complexed with copper(II) (GHK-Cu), as two separate tripeptides

PubChem CID

125672 (KPV); 71587328 (GHK-Cu)

What the blend contains

The blend combines two unrelated tripeptides at a 1:5 ratio by mass. By moles the balance is different. Using PubChem molecular weights (342.43 g/mol for KPV, CID 125672, and 402.92 g/mol for the 1:1 copper complex, CID 71587328), 10 mg of KPV is about 29 micromoles and 50 mg of GHK-Cu about 124 micromoles. That is roughly four GHK-Cu molecules for each KPV molecule. Salts, water and any 2:1 copper complex would shift these figures, so only the batch certificate can give the real content of each component. The two compounds have their own pages on this site, which cover identity, research and regulatory detail. This page covers only what changes when they are combined in one product.

What has been published on the combination

Nothing has been published on KPV and GHK-Cu together. A PubMed search on October 2, 2026 for KPV, Lys-Pro-Val or alpha-MSH 11-13 combined with GHK, GHK-Cu, Gly-His-Lys or copper tripeptide returned two records. One was a review that discusses the two compounds as separate lines of work, and the other was an unrelated protein-sequencing paper. Any reason for combining the two in one product therefore comes from separate literature on each compound, not from data on the mixture. Whether the two peptides behave differently together than apart, chemically or biologically, is unknown.

Why a two-peptide mixture is analyzed differently

A single purity percentage cannot describe this product. A certificate should report each component separately:

• Identity of each component by mass spectrometry, matching KPV and the GHK peptide.
• Content of each component against the label (10 mg and 50 mg), since a mixture can be pure and still have the wrong ratio.
• Purity of each component by HPLC, with both peaks resolved. A validated reverse-phase method already exists for KPV ¹; the run must also separate it from GHK.
• Copper content by an elemental method such as ICP-MS, because GHK binds copper(II) at an apparent pK of about 3.6 ², so an HPLC run at strongly acidic pH, below that value, mainly measures free peptide rather than the intact complex.

The KPV and GHK-Cu pages describe each component's own degradation products and test methods.

Possible interaction between the components

Interaction between the two components has not been studied, but the chemistry gives reason to check. Copper bound to GHK is not the only possible arrangement: in solution GHK can form mixed (ternary) copper complexes with other ligands such as the amino acid histidine ³. The same study found that the lysine epsilon-amino group of GHK raises the stability of its copper complexes ³. Free amine groups of that kind are also present in KPV, which has an N-terminal amine and a lysine side chain. Whether KPV binds any copper in this mixture, in the solid state or in solution, has not been studied. A copper speciation method would be needed to find out.

Regulatory status and handling

Neither KPV nor GHK-Cu appears in Drugs@FDA, and FDA has approved no drug containing either one. Both compounds appear in FDA's bulk-substance categories for pharmacy compounding, and neither listing is an approval. A mixture of the two has no regulatory standing of its own; it is a research material, not a medicine. For handling, store the material as its certificate of analysis and product label direct. Slow solid-state reactions such as peptide bond cleavage and oxidation depend on temperature and moisture content ⁴, and a two-component material gives them two substrates. Each component page lists its own specific weak points.