References
The skin experiments, the matrix biology and the animal repair work collected in one reading list.
Skin penetration
Start with Hostynek and colleagues on human skin penetration for the experiment that opens this site, then the 2025 topical-delivery review for the formulation problem. The skin-regeneration review, tissue-remodelling account and gene-data review describe different levels of the GHK research. I put the physical skin measurements first because they make the later biological claims easier to locate.
Tendon, vessel and wound studies
The rat tendon experiment, vessel-growth study and rat wound paper concern different models and preparations. The BPC-157 review and 2026 peptide-therapy review place those findings in the wider human-safety context. The GHK-containing hair trial tested a separate topical combination. None of these papers is a controlled trial of GLOW.
Sources
- Mendias CL, Awan TM. Safety and Efficacy of Approved and Unapproved Peptide Therapies for Musculoskeletal Injuries and Athletic Performance. Sports Medicine. 2026. ↗
- McGuire FP, Martinez R, Lenz A, Skinner L, Cushman DM. Regeneration or Risk? A Narrative Review of BPC-157 for Musculoskeletal Healing. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine. 2025. ↗
- Hsieh MJ, et al. Therapeutic potential of pro-angiogenic BPC157 is associated with VEGFR2 activation and up-regulation. Journal of Molecular Medicine (Berlin). 2017;95:323-333. ↗
- Pickart L, Vasquez-Soltero JM, Margolina A. GHK Peptide as a Natural Modulator of Multiple Cellular Pathways in Skin Regeneration. BioMed Research International. 2015;2015:648108. ↗
- Pickart L. The human tri-peptide GHK and tissue remodeling. Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition. 2008;19(8):969-988. ↗
- Staresinic M, et al. Gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 accelerates healing of transected rat Achilles tendon and in vitro stimulates tendocytes growth. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2003;21:976-983. ↗
- Malinda KM, et al. Thymosin beta4 accelerates wound healing. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 1999;113(3):364-368. ↗
- Mortazavi SM, Mohammadi Vadoud SA, Moghimi HR. Topically applied GHK as an anti-wrinkle peptide: Advantages, problems and prospective. BioImpacts. 2025;15:30071. ↗
- Pickart L, Margolina A. Regenerative and Protective Actions of the GHK-Cu Peptide in the Light of the New Gene Data. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2018;19(7):1987. ↗
- Lee WJ, Sim HB, Jang YH, Lee SJ, Kim DW, Yim SH. Efficacy of a Complex of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid and Glycyl-Histidyl-Lysine Peptide on Hair Growth. Annals of Dermatology. 2016;28(4):438-443. ↗
- Hostynek JJ, Dreher F, Maibach HI. Human skin penetration of a copper tripeptide in vitro as a function of skin layer. Inflammation Research. 2011;60(1):79-86. ↗