KPV
Lys-Pro-Valα-MSH (11-13)alpha-MSH fragmentEvidence
Preclinical
Half-life
1 h
Typical vial
5 mg
Route
3 routes
What it is
A three-amino-acid fragment of alpha-MSH studied for anti-inflammatory effects, largely in animal models of gut inflammation.
KPV is the final three amino acids of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone: lysine, proline, valine. The parent hormone has broad effects including on pigmentation; the KPV fragment appears to retain anti-inflammatory activity without them, which is the reason for interest in it specifically.
The published work is preclinical and concentrated on inflammatory bowel models in rodents, with some work on skin inflammation. No controlled human trial has been published. It is the newest and least-studied of the four compounds in a KLOW blend.
How it works
KPV appears to act inside the cell rather than at a surface receptor — interfering with NF-κB — a signalling pathway that switches on a large share of the body's inflammatory response. Blocking it upstream would reduce many inflammatory outputs at once. That is what the animal models report.
Because it is small and uncharged at physiological pH, it is thought to cross cell membranes readily. That is the proposed reason a three-amino-acid fragment can reach an intracellular target at all.
What it is studied for
Each entry states the evidence behind it. We do not rank indications by effectiveness — for most compounds here, that would be a claim nobody can support.
Gut inflammation
Published reviewThe main focus of published work.
EvidenceRodent models of induced colitis. No human trials.
Skin inflammation
Published reviewStudied topically for inflammatory skin conditions.
EvidenceAnimal and in vitro work.
Regulatory status
Last reviewed 12 Aug 2026. Positions in this category change frequently, so we date the line.
Not approved for human use in the United States. Sold only as a research chemical.
Identity and clearance
What the molecule is, and how long a dose stays measurable.
Molecule
- Class
- Tripeptide, C-terminal fragment of α-MSH
- Molecular weight
- 342.4 Da
- Length
- 3 amino acids
Sequence
Lys-Pro-Val
Pharmacokinetics
Published reviewNot measured in humans. Short-peptide clearance is expected to be rapid.
Dose protocols reported in sources
Displayed for reference only. Every row says where it came from, and a trial protocol and a community convention are not the same kind of information. None of this is fed into the calculator, and none of it is a recommendation.
A week-by-week progression is also reported for KPV. See it against a 5 mg vial, where the syringe units can be worked out.
| Goal | Dose | Frequency | Route | Units, 5 mg vial | Source | Start this protocol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonly described dose | 200 mcg – 500 mcg | Once daily | Subcutaneous | 12–30 u | Community practice | Start this |
| As delivered within a KLOW blend | 250 mcg – 400 mcg | Once daily | SubcutaneousFixed by the vial's ratio rather than chosen independently. | 15–24 u | Community practice | Start this |
The doses above in syringe units, for the vial you have:
Start this copies a row into a protocol of your own, which you can then edit. Where a source gave a dose range or an ambiguous frequency, those fields arrive empty — we will not pick a number on your behalf.
CheckRows marked community practice describe what people commonly do, drawn from public discussion. They are not derived from any trial and are not evidence that a dose is safe or effective.
Work out what to draw
Pre-filled with a 10 mg vial as a worked example. These are not recommended values — change them to match the vial in front of you.
Draw to 5 units on a 1 mL U-100 syringe. That is 0.05 mL, containing 250 mcg of KPV.
Check5 units falls between the printed lines on a 1 mL U-100 syringe. Mixing with 1.6 mL of water instead would put this dose at 4 units.
BioAlmanac performs arithmetic on values you enter. It does not recommend doses, schedules or compounds, and nothing here is medical advice. Confirm every calculation against your vial and syringe before drawing, and speak with a licensed healthcare provider.
Open this calculation in the full calculator
Units, concentration, bacteriostatic water — the glossary defines the vocabulary, and a unit is not a fixed volume.
Safety
Reported effects, the situations that need care, and the ones that mean stop.
Reported effects
- Injection site reactionsCommunity practice
Occasionally reported
Reported less often than with several other peptides in this category, which is part of why it is added to blends.
- Long-term effectsCommunity practice
Unknown
No human safety data of any duration.
When to stop
- Signs of infection at an injection site.
- Any allergic response: rash, hives, swelling, or difficulty breathing. Seek urgent care.
- New or worsening gastrointestinal symptoms, given that the gut is where its studied activity lies.
Interactions and situations that need care
- Immunosuppressant therapyUse caution
KPV's proposed mechanism is suppression of an inflammatory signalling pathway. Adding it to prescribed immunosuppression compounds the same direction of effect, and no study has examined the combination.
- Active infectionUse caution
Inflammation is part of how the body clears infection. Damping it while fighting one is not obviously desirable, and has not been studied.
- Pregnancy and breastfeedingAvoid
No reproductive or developmental safety data.
What to expect
What the sources describe over time, and how confident anyone can be about it.
HonestlyThere is no human efficacy data for this compound, so there is no evidence-based timeline to give. Any site publishing a week-by-week schedule of expected effects has invented it.
- No human trial has been published, so there is no evidence-based timeline for effects.
- The published animal work concerns gut inflammation specifically; general anti-inflammatory claims extend beyond what those models tested.
- It is the least-studied component of a KLOW blend, and the newest to this market.
Storage and combinations
How to keep it, and what it does and does not go with.
Storage and handling
- Freeze-dried powder
- Refrigerated at 2–8 °C, protected from light.
- After mixing
- Refrigerated at 2–8 °C. Do not freeze once mixed.
- Long-term, frozen
- Unopened powder is stable at −20 °C or colder.
Stacks with KPV in them
Documented combinations and plans people have published, with full schedules.
Published by people running it. Their plans, not ours — one person doing something is not evidence that it works.
Checking your vial
Research chemicals carry no manufacturing standard, so what the vial looks like is often the only quality signal available before you use it.
White cake, clear solution
Standard appearance for a correctly lyophilised short peptide.
Collapsed cake or cloudy solution
Suggests heat damage in transit or degraded material.
Vocabulary on this page
- Duration of action
- How long an effect lasts. This is not the same as half-life and often much longer.
- Blend
- One vial containing several peptides at a fixed ratio, reconstituted and drawn together.
- Vial
- The small sealed glass container a peptide is sold in, holding a stated mass of freeze-dried powder under a rubber stopper.
- Evidence level
- The category of human evidence behind a compound, from preclinical through to approved. Stated on every profile here as a category, not an adjective.
- Stack
- Several separate compounds run at the same time, each in its own vial and on its own schedule.
- Injection site
- Where on the body an injection is given. Rotating between sites is standard practice for anything given repeatedly.
Questions
- How is KPV different from alpha-MSH?
- KPV is the last three amino acids of alpha-MSH. The interest in the fragment, not the whole hormone, is that it appears to keep the anti-inflammatory activity without the parent hormone's other effects, including on pigmentation.
- Why is KPV added to peptide blends?
- It is usually described as being included for anti-inflammatory effect and because it is reported to cause fewer injection site reactions than the other components. Both are community observations rather than trial findings.
References
Everything on this page that came from a source, with the source.
The Tripeptide KPV: Anti-inflammatory Activity and Therapeutic Potential
Peptides / review literature, 2018 · Review of preclinical work
Rodent colitis models and cultured cells
Summarises reported suppression of NF-κB signalling and reduced inflammatory markers in animal models of intestinal inflammation.
Commonly reported community protocols
BioAlmanac editorial summary of public community sources, 2026 · Not a study
Summarises the dose ranges most consistently described in public discussion. Carries no evidential weight about safety or effect.
Compiled community protocols
BioAlmanac editorial summary of a public protocol compilation, 2026 · Not a study
Records a week-by-week progression described on a vendor-adjacent protocol site, retrieved August 2026. Only the doses are taken from it. Its own syringe-unit conversions were checked against the vial sizes it states and several understate the volume by half, so nothing computed by that source is reproduced here — the units on this site are worked out from the vial in front of you. Carries no evidential weight about safety or effect.
Related compounds
BPC-157
A synthetic 15-amino-acid peptide studied in animals for effects on tendon, ligament and gut tissue repair. No completed human trials.
TB-500
A synthetic fragment of thymosin beta-4, a naturally occurring protein involved in cell migration and tissue repair. Animal evidence only.
GHK-Cu
A naturally occurring copper-binding tripeptide with a long history in topical skincare research. Injected use is not what the research studied.
LL-37
The human body's own antimicrobial peptide, part of innate immunity. Genuinely important biology, and implicated in causing disease as often as treating it.
Next
What to do with KPV
- Keep a record of itTurn a dose and a schedule into a protocol, then log what you actually take. KPV is filled in for you.
- See what it costsPer-milligram prices read from vendor sites and confirmed by a person, so vial sizes compare.
- Check a combinationWhat our profiles record about KPV alongside each other compound — including the pairs where nothing is recorded.
Keep this page honest
If something here is wrong, out of date, or missing a source, tell us and we will fix it and say that we did.
This page is educational. It describes what published research reports, not what you should do. Peptides discussed here are largely not approved for human use, and nothing on BioAlmanac is medical advice. No clinician reviews these pages.
Page last updated 12 Aug 2026