GHK-Cu vs GLOW: what the published research shows

At a glance

GHK-Cu in the research

GHK (glycyl-histidyl-lysine) was first described in 1973 by Loren Pickart. In that work, plasma from young people caused liver tissue from older people to produce proteins more typical of younger tissue. GHK binds copper(II) ions strongly, and most of its research uses the copper complex, GHK-Cu. The sequence also appears inside type I collagen, which suggests GHK may be released at the site of a wound as tissue is broken down.

The best-known finding is its effect on collagen. In 1988, researchers in Reims, France, found that GHK-Cu stimulated collagen production by fibroblasts, the cells that build skin's supporting matrix. The effect began at concentrations as low as 10^-12 to 10^-11 M, peaked at 10^-9 M, and did not depend on any change in cell numbers. Later work found it also increased glycosaminoglycans and the proteoglycan decorin, other key parts of the skin matrix, in experimental wounds.

In animal studies, GHK has been studied in rabbit, rat and mouse wound models. A collagen dressing containing GHK increased collagen in healthy rat wounds 9-fold. GHK-Cu has also been studied with the Connectivity Map, a public library of gene-activity data from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. That analysis found GHK changed the activity of about 31% of human genes by 50% or more, with roughly 59% of those increased and 41% decreased.

Its human studies come from skincare. In one 12-week study, a facial cream containing GHK-Cu was applied by 71 women with signs of sun-related skin ageing, and skin density and thickness increased while fine lines and wrinkle depth were reduced. In a randomised, double-blind study, GHK-Cu in a nano-lipid carrier reduced wrinkle volume by 55.8% compared with the carrier alone, and by 31.6% compared with the cosmetic peptide Matrixyl 3000.

What GLOW adds

GLOW is not a new molecule. It is three separate peptides supplied together in one vial, so each one keeps its own structure and its own research literature. The idea is convenience for laboratories that want to study skin-matrix and tissue-repair models side by side.

BPC-157 is a 15-amino-acid peptide derived from a protein in human gastric juice. A 2025 systematic review found 36 relevant studies, mostly in rats, reporting improved structural and biomechanical outcomes in muscle, tendon, ligament and bone injury models. In rat tendon fibroblasts, it increased cell survival under stress and increased cell migration.

TB-500 is a 7-amino-acid fragment of thymosin beta-4, a protein that helps cells move. Most of the biological research used full-length thymosin beta-4, which in a rat wound model increased re-epithelialisation by up to 61% at day 7 compared with saline. For more on these two, see our BPC-157 vs TB-500 guide.

Where the research stands

GHK-Cu has more than 50 years of research behind it, but its human studies are small cosmetic trials of creams applied to the skin, and much of the research has been summarised by Loren Pickart, whose own work first described GHK. The three GLOW components have each been studied separately. We have not found any published study of the three-peptide combination, so research on the blend relies on the literature for each component.

BPC-157 has three small human studies with 30 participants in total, rated very low certainty in a 2026 review, and there are no published human trials of the TB-500 fragment. All three are research compounds rather than approved medicines, including in Australia.

In sport, GHK-Cu is not named on the WADA Prohibited List. GLOW, however, contains BPC-157, which WADA prohibits under S0, and TB-500, which is prohibited under S2 as a thymosin beta-4 derivative. Both are banned at all times.

Sources

• Pickart & Margolina, Int J Mol Sci (2018) — Regenerative and protective actions of the GHK-Cu peptide in the light of new gene data
• Maquart et al., FEBS Lett (1988) — Stimulation of collagen synthesis in fibroblast cultures by GHK-Cu
• Siméon et al., J Invest Dermatol (2000) — Glycosaminoglycans and small proteoglycans in wounds: modulation by GHK-Cu
• Vasireddi et al., HSS J (2025) — BPC-157 in orthopaedic sports medicine: a systematic review
• Chang et al., J Appl Physiol (2011) — BPC 157 and tendon healing: outgrowth, cell survival and migration
• Poolton et al., Acta Orthop Belg (2026) — Human evidence for BPC-157: a systematic review
• Malinda et al., J Invest Dermatol (1999) — Thymosin beta-4 accelerates wound healing
• Esposito et al., Drug Test Anal (2012) — Ac-LKKTETQ identified in TB-500
• WADA — The Prohibited List
• PubChem — BPC-157 (CID 9941957)
• PubChem — TB-500 fragment (CID 62707662)