Frequently asked questions
What is KPV?
A tripeptide of lysine, proline and valine — the last three residues, at positions eleven to thirteen, of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. The material sold under the name is made by solid-phase synthesis. It is not the parent hormone, and much of the literature that gets cited for it is about the parent rather than the fragment. source
Is KPV an approved medicine?
No. FDA states that neither KPV free base nor KPV acetate is a component of an FDA-approved drug and that there is no United States Pharmacopeia or National Formulary monograph for either. FDA also searched the European and Japanese Pharmacopoeias and found no monograph, and records that the European Medicines Agency lists no authorised product containing either substance. source
Can a pharmacy compound it?
It is not on FDA's list of bulk drug substances that may be used in compounding under section 503A. A pharmacy nominated it for that list and then withdrew the nomination; FDA evaluated it anyway, on its own initiative, and proposed not adding either form. FDA then put the question to its Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee. An advisory committee recommendation does not bind FDA, and no minutes or vote record for that meeting had been published when this entry was written, so this page does not state the outcome. source
What does the published human research show?
There is none. FDA searched the published medical literature, the trial registry, its adverse event system and its foods complaint system and reports finding no study, no case report and no exposure data for KPV administered to a person by any route. This is a stronger absence than "the evidence is weak" — there is no human evidence to weigh. source
Are there any clinical trials under way?
No. A query of the ClinicalTrials.gov registry during data entry returned nothing for KPV as an intervention and nothing on a free-text search of the whole registry. FDA consulted the same registry for its evaluation and reports the same result. source
What kind of studies exist, then?
Cell culture and rodents, concentrated in gut inflammation and in wound and skin models. Cultured human intestinal and bronchial epithelial cell lines, mouse colitis models, a mouse peritonitis model, a mouse ear-swelling model and a mouse colitis-associated tumour model. The studies are summarised individually in the research section, each attributed to the paper that produced it. None of them involved a person. source
Why does the delivery method matter so much in this literature?
Because a large share of the animal work does not administer the peptide on its own. It is loaded into nanoparticles, hyaluronic-acid conjugates or hydrogels designed to release it at the colon. One of those papers reports similar effect at a concentration twelve thousand times lower when encapsulated than in free solution. That is a statement about the carrier as much as the peptide, and results obtained that way do not describe what loose powder does. source
How is KPV different from alpha-MSH?
By everything except three amino acids. Alpha-MSH is a thirteen-residue neuropeptide with its own melanocortin-receptor pharmacology; KPV is its C-terminal fragment. Where a study has compared them directly the results diverged — one paper reports that the parent inhibited macrophage activation in vitro and raised cyclic AMP while the tripeptide did neither. FDA's reviewers state that melanocortin receptors are unlikely to be the targets underlying KPV's reported effects. source
Is the mechanism understood?
No. FDA states plainly that the molecular targets underlying the pharmacological effects of KPV-related substances remain unknown. Two mechanisms have been proposed in the literature — inhibition of nuclear factor-kappa B signalling, and uptake through the di/tripeptide transporter PepT1 — and both are proposals supported by cell and animal work, not established targets. source
How should it be stored?
The published literature does not establish handling conditions. The figures circulating for this compound come from supplier certificates of analysis and supplier product pages; they reached FDA's evaluation by that route and are recorded in the storage entry on this page with that provenance stated, not as a determination. There is one exception worth knowing: a peer-reviewed stability-indicating assay found that under acid, alkaline and peroxide stress the peptide degrades principally to lys-pro-diketopiperazine. source
Why do the free base and the acetate matter?
Because FDA treats them as two different active pharmaceutical ingredients with different molecular formulas, different molecular weights, different reported solubilities and different reported storage conditions — and because, unlike BPC-157, they do not have distinct CAS numbers in most public references. Neither has a UNII code in FDA's evaluation. The single nomination FDA reviewed named one form in its certificate of analysis title and a different one by molecular formula, which is the problem in miniature. source
Does FDA say anything about the safety of KPV?
It says it does not know. FDA's published entry reads that it "has not identified any human exposure data on drug products containing KPV administered via any route of administration" and that it "lacks important information regarding any safety issues raised by KPV, including whether it would cause harm if administered to humans". FDA identified no toxicology of any kind and no assessment of immunogenicity or aggregation. Absence of reported harm from a substance nobody has studied is not a safety finding. source
Is it allowed in sport?
This site does not assert an answer, because no statement from an anti-doping authority naming KPV was located during data entry. The United States Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited-list page does not name it. What is on the record is that a peer-reviewed sports medicine review names KPV among peptides promoted in recreational and professional sport, and says the clinical evidence supporting peptide use in sport is limited. That records promotion, not status. Ask your own anti-doping authority. source
Why does looking KPV up in a chemical database give strange results?
Because the three-letter name is not unique. Searching PubChem by the name "KPV" returns a small molecule, 2-oxo-5-phenylpentanoic acid, that has nothing to do with this peptide; the tripeptide's own record is titled "Msh (11-13)". FDA makes the same point from the regulatory side, noting that KPV is a common name rather than a United States Adopted Name and that it has encountered multiple salts and derivatives sold commercially under that one name. Look the compound up by structure, CAS number or systematic name. source