Reviewed & approved by Dr. Nova Reyes · Last checked 2026-10-15. ← Back to Evidence Library

KPV: what the evidence says

Legend: HUMAN data · ANIMAL / LAB data · UNKNOWN · UNVERIFIED: not yet confirmed against a primary source

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What is it?

KPV is the tripeptide Lys-Pro-Val, also written alpha-MSH(11–13). It is the C-terminal end (the last few building blocks) of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH). Researchers studied it because it seemed to keep some of alpha-MSH's anti-inflammatory effect without the rest of the hormone. ^{R2, R6}

In one mouse study, KPV still worked in mice whose main alpha-MSH receptor (MC1R) didn't function, so it may act at least partly another way. ^R2 In cells, it enters through PepT1, a transporter that carries small peptides into gut cells and that increases in the inflamed colon. ^R1

About the evidence

• Who did the studies: most of the colitis work, including the PepT1 and nanoparticle studies, comes from one research group (Didier Merlin's lab, Emory University and later Georgia State University). ^{R1, R3, R4, R5} A second group in Münster, Germany, did one colitis study; some of its authors also wrote reviews proposing alpha-MSH-related peptides as drugs. ^R2 We found no study funded by a KPV seller.
• Conflicts of interest: the abstracts we read don't state funding or ties, except where listed in the tables. UNVERIFIED We did not read the full papers' disclosure sections.
• What kind: cell studies and animal studies only. We found no phase 1 trial (a small first study in people, focused mainly on safety and how the body handles the drug), no phase 2 trial (mid-size studies testing doses and early effects) and no phase 3 trial (large studies confirming benefit and safety before approval). ClinicalTrials.gov lists no KPV trial (search Oct 15, 2026).
• Access limits: we read PubMed abstracts and registry records, not full papers. Claims seen only in summaries or vendor pages are marked UNVERIFIED.

Does it help gut inflammation (colitis, IBD)?

Unknown Unknown in people. No human study.

Animal What the animal and lab studies found: - Dalmasso 2008: in human gut and immune cells, very small (nanomolar) amounts of KPV turned down inflammation signals (NF-κB and MAP kinase). They also cut the release of inflammatory cytokines (chemical messengers that drive inflammation). The cells took KPV in through PepT1. In mice with chemically caused colitis (DSS and TNBS), KPV in drinking water reduced colitis and inflammatory cytokine levels. ^R1 - Kannengiesser 2008: in two mouse colitis models (DSS and T-cell transfer), KPV-treated mice recovered weight sooner and had less inflammation in colon tissue. In DSS-treated mice lacking a working MC1R receptor, KPV kept all treated mice alive. ^R2 - Nanoparticle delivery: the same lab packed KPV into tiny particles inside a gel meant to break open in the colon. In DSS mice this protected against colitis. The authors reported a similar effect at a concentration 12,000 times lower than free KPV in solution. ^R3 A later version coated with hyaluronic acid targeted gut lining cells and immune cells and worked better in mice than the uncoated version. ^R4 - Colitis-linked cancer: in a mouse model of colon cancer driven by colitis, KPV prevented tumor formation in normal mice but not in mice lacking PepT1. ^R5

A lab or animal change isn't a health benefit. Chemically caused colitis in mice is not the same disease as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis in people. Nobody has tested whether KPV helps people with IBD.

Does it help skin or wounds?

Unknown Unknown in people. No human study. - Animal Rabbit eyes (Bonfiglio 2006): KPV eye drops sped healing of scraped corneas. At 60 hours, 8 of 8 KPV-treated corneas had fully healed vs none given placebo (a dummy treatment). ^R6 - Animal Skin cells (Sung 2025): in human skin cells (HaCaT) and a 3D skin model, KPV reduced cell death and inflammation caused by fine dust pollution. The authors declared no competing interests. The first author is listed at a private company (T&L Co.). ^R7 - UNVERIFIED Vendor claims about acne, eczema, psoriasis or wound repair on human skin: we found no published human study.

Related drugs that aren't KPV

These are different compounds that act on the same melanocortin receptors as alpha-MSH. Their results do not apply to KPV. - Human Afamelanotide (SCENESSE): a longer, modified alpha-MSH, also called melanotan I (see our Melanotan I page). It is FDA-approved as an under-the-skin implant for erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare disease that makes sunlight painful. ^R9 In two placebo-controlled trials (74 and 94 patients), it increased pain-free time in sunlight. Adverse events (problems reported after use, which may or may not have been caused by the drug) were mostly mild. Serious adverse events were not thought to be drug-related. The funder was Clinuvel, the developer. ^R8 It was not tested for gut or wound healing in those trials. - Human PL-8177 (Palatin): a melanocortin receptor drug taken by mouth, in a small phase 2 trial in active ulcerative colitis (NCT05466890; estimated 16 people; PL-8177 vs placebo, 3 to 1). The registry lists it as active, not recruiting, with primary completion Feb 2025. No results posted that we found. ^R12

Is it safe?

• Unknown In people: no data. FDA: "FDA has not identified any human exposure data on drug products containing KPV administered via any route of administration. FDA lacks important information regarding any safety issues raised by KPV, including whether it would cause harm if administered to humans." ^R10
• Unknown Dropouts: no human trial, so no dropouts because of side effects compared with placebo.
• Animal Animals and cells: the nanoparticle papers reported the particles were not toxic to gut cells. ^{R3, R4} These were short studies, not formal safety testing.
• Unknown Long-term use, injection, or use with other peptides (as in KLOW): no data.

What we don't know

• Unknown Whether it helps any human disease
• Unknown Whether it's safe in people, by mouth, on the skin or injected
• Unknown How much survives digestion or reaches the colon in people
• Unknown How it acts when mixed with BPC-157, TB-500 and GHK-Cu (see KLOW)

Is it legal?

• US: not FDA-approved. Sold online as "research use only" powder or capsules, which is not a legal medicine for people.
• Compounding: KPV is on FDA's list of bulk substances previously in Category 2 whose nominations were withdrawn (FDA page current as of Apr 22, 2026). ^R10 It is not on the 503A bulks list (21 CFR 216.23, checked Oct 15, 2026) or the 503B bulks list (FDA page current as of May 16, 2024), and it doesn't appear in any category of FDA's current 503A or 503B nominations lists. ^R13 So pharmacies have no approved list entry to compound it from.
• Elsewhere: we found no approval by any regulator. Caution We did not check non-US drug registries one by one.
• Athletes: KPV is not named on WADA's 2026 list (checked against the official PDF text). S0 bans "any pharmacological substance which is not addressed by any of the subsequent sections of the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use." KPV isn't covered by another section and no government has approved it, so it likely falls under S0 (banned at all times). Unknown WADA hasn't confirmed this for KPV. Athletes should check with their anti-doping agency. ^R11

As of Oct 15, 2026.

What's in the vial?

Unknown For "research use" or fake (counterfeit) products, the contents are unknown. We found no published test of retail KPV. We test retail products blind under the Open Peptide Standard. See results at /tests/. A passing test covers one batch, tested on one date. It does not mean the compound itself is safe.

What do users report?

Self-report, not evidence.

Unknown TBD. We'll only list this once we can cite a public source.

Study details

^R1–R7 Animal Animal and lab studies

Study arms are what researchers used, not recommendations.

Study	Animals / cells	Study arm	Reported	Funding / ties	Citation
Dalmasso 2008	Human Caco2-BBE, HT29-Cl.19A, Jurkat cells; DSS and TNBS colitis mice	Nanomolar in cells; oral in drinking water (Caution amount not in abstract)	Less NF-κB/MAPK signaling and cytokines; uptake via PepT1; less colitis	Caution Not in abstract (Emory)	PMID 18061177 R1
Kannengiesser 2008	DSS and CD45RB-hi transfer colitis mice; MC1R e/e mice	Caution Not in abstract	Faster weight regain, less inflammation and MPO; all MC1R e/e treated mice survived DSS	Caution Not in abstract (Münster)	PMID 18092346 R2
Laroui 2010	Caco2-BBE cells; DSS mice	KPV in ~400 nm nanoparticles in alginate-chitosan gel, oral	Protection vs DSS; similar effect at 12,000-fold lower concentration than free KPV	Caution Not in abstract (Emory)	PMID 19909746 R3
Xiao 2017	Colon cells, macrophages; colitis mice	Hyaluronic-acid-coated nanoparticles (~272 nm) in gel, oral	Less mucosal damage and TNF-α than uncoated version	Caution Not in abstract (Georgia State)	PMID 28143741 R4
Viennois 2016	AOM/DSS colitis-cancer mice; PepT1 knockout and overexpressing mice	Caution Not in abstract	KPV prevented tumors in normal mice, not in PepT1 knockout	Caution Not in abstract (Georgia State)	PMID 27458604 R5
Bonfiglio 2006	Rabbits, scraped cornea; rabbit corneal cells	Eye drops 1, 5 or 10 mg/ml, 4×/day, 4 days; cells 0.1–10 µM	8/8 corneas healed at 60 h vs 0 with placebo; blocked by L-NAME	Caution Not in abstract (Univ. Catania)	PMID 16965771 R6
Sung 2025	Human HaCaT cells; 3D skin model	50 µg/mL	Less PM10-induced cell death and IL-1β	No competing interests declared; first author at T&L Co.	PMID 40073467 R7

^{R8, R12} Human Human studies of related compounds (not KPV)

Study	Compound	People	Design	Study arm	Reported	Funding / ties	Citation
Langendonk 2015	Afamelanotide	74 (EU) + 94 (US), erythropoietic protoporphyria	Two phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled; EU study ~9 months (270 days), US study ~6 months (180 days)	16 mg implant every 60 days (5 in EU, 3 in US)	Pain-free sun time: US (after 6 months) median 69.4 vs 40.8 h (P=0.04); EU (after 9 months) 6.0 vs 0.8 h (P=0.005); phototoxic reactions 77 vs 146 (EU)	"Funded by Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals and others"	PMID 26132941 R8

Study periods: the abstract lists "the respective 180-day and 270-day study periods" right after naming the EU then US studies, which reads as EU = 180 days. But its own results give US results "after 6 months" and EU results "after 9 months," and the EU arm got 5 implants every 60 days vs 3 in the US. So the EU study was the longer one (≈270 days) and the US study the shorter (≈180 days). | NCT05466890 | PL-8177 | Est. 16, active ulcerative colitis | Phase 2a, vs placebo 3:1, 8 weeks | Unknown Not reported | Unknown No results posted | Sponsor Palatin | ClinicalTrials.gov ^R12 |

^{R9–R11, R13} Regulatory (as of Oct 15, 2026)

• ^R9 SCENESSE (afamelanotide) implant label, Clinuvel. DailyMed; NDA 210797 on Drugs@FDA.
• ^R10 FDA, Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks (content current as of 04/22/2026): KPV under "Bulk drug substances nominated but withdrawn" (previously Category 2), with the human-exposure statement quoted above. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks
• ^R11 WADA 2026 Prohibited List (official PDF text, saved copy): KPV not named; S0 wording quoted above. Our S0 reading is an interpretation, not a WADA ruling. https://www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/world-anti-doping-code-and-international-standards/prohibited-list
• ^R13 FDA bulks lists: 503A bulks list at 21 CFR 216.23; 503B Bulk Drug Substances List (current as of 05/16/2024); 503A nominations list (updated May 14, 2026, https://www.fda.gov/media/94155/download); 503B nominations list (updated Mar 21, 2025, https://www.fda.gov/media/94164/download). KPV appears on none of them.

Full reference list (verified on PubMed E-utilities and ClinicalTrials.gov, Oct 15, 2026)

• Dalmasso G, et al. Gastroenterology. 2008;134(1):166-78. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2007.10.026. PMID 18061177
• Kannengiesser K, et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2008;14(3):324-31. doi:10.1002/ibd.20334. PMID 18092346
• Laroui H, et al. Gastroenterology. 2010;138(3):843-53. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2009.11.003. PMID 19909746
• Xiao B, et al. Mol Ther. 2017;25(7):1628-1640. doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2016.11.020. PMID 28143741
• Viennois E, et al. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;2(3):340-357. doi:10.1016/j.jcmgh.2016.01.006. PMID 27458604
• Bonfiglio V, et al. Exp Eye Res. 2006;83(6):1366-72. doi:10.1016/j.exer.2006.07.014. PMID 16965771
• Sung J, et al. Tissue Cell. 2025;95:102837. doi:10.1016/j.tice.2025.102837. PMID 40073467
• Langendonk JG, et al. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(1):48-59. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1411481. PMID 26132941
• Palatin Technologies. NCT05466890 (ClinicalTrials.gov; active, not recruiting; no results posted)

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Disclaimer

This page is for education and harm reduction. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation to use KPV. Its safety in humans is not established. Please talk to a clinician you trust, especially if you have inflammatory bowel disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are a tested athlete. Seek care right away for a serious reaction, and report it to FDA MedWatch (https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch).