Oligopeptide-68_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as beta-White, b-White, TGF-beta1 biomimetic oligopeptide-68, GRGDYIWSLDTQ
A real TGF-beta-1 fragment with four extra residues nobody explains.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is Oligopeptide-68?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
This is a skin-brightening peptide, sold for dark spots and uneven tone, and it is the most interesting of the three new cosmetic peptides here because its design is half documented and half unexplained. Eight of its twelve building blocks are copied exactly from a real human growth factor, in the right order and the right place. The first four are a famous little sticky sequence that cells use to grip surfaces, and it appears nowhere in that growth factor. Someone added it on purpose. No published source says why, and no experiment anywhere tests whether it does anything. Beyond that, the evidence is thin in a way that is easy to miss: the one real randomized trial tested a cream containing sunscreen, applied twice a day for twelve weeks, and sunscreen alone improves the condition being measured.
Oligopeptide-68 is the INCI name for a twelve-residue unmodified peptide, GRGDYIWSLDTQ, sold as a skin-brightening cosmetic ingredient under the trade name beta-White. The supplier's mechanism is transcriptional: reduced expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and consequently of tyrosinase, placing it upstream of the enzyme rather than at it. Its C-terminal eight residues correspond to an authentic segment of the TGF-beta-1 proprotein; its N-terminal four are the canonical arginine-glycine-aspartate cell-adhesion motif plus a glycine, absent from TGF-beta-1. No FDA substance registration record exists. It has never been tested alone against a vehicle in humans.
What it's used for
Used in topical skincare for hyperpigmentation, dark spots and uneven skin tone. A cosmetic ingredient, not a drug.
How does Oligopeptide-68 work?
What it does in the body, and where.Three peptides on this site are sold for pigmentation, and they act at three different points in the same pathway. Placing this one correctly is the most useful thing a reader can take from this page, because it is the weakest-evidenced of the three and the one most often described as if it were the strongest.
- 01Where pigment comes fromMelanocytes make pigment using tyrosinase, the rate-limiting enzyme. How much tyrosinase exists is controlled by a transcription factor called MITF that switches the gene on. So there are three places to intervene: the receptor that tells the cell to start, the transcription factor that makes the enzyme, or the enzyme itself.
- 02The three-way split, with the numbersNonapeptide-1, already on this site, is a selective MC1R antagonist with a binding affinity of 40 nM: real receptor pharmacology at nanomolar potency, from the primary literature. Decapeptide-12, also here, inhibits the enzyme directly, but weakly, at 25 to 35% inhibition of human tyrosinase at 100 micromolar, and weak is the class norm since hydroquinone and arbutin work in the millimolar range. This peptide is placed in the middle of that pathway, at the transcription factor, and the supporting work is in mouse melanoma cells, authored by the ingredient's supplier, with no replicate counts, no described controls and no statistics reported.
- 03Two mechanisms in circulation, and only one has an experimentThe supplier describes reduced MITF expression leading to less tyrosinase being made. The abstract of the 2016 melasma paper instead states that the peptide inhibits tyrosinase activity: direct enzyme inhibition, and a different claim. No assay supporting direct inhibition by this peptide could be found anywhere. So the two most-cited sources on this ingredient describe mutually distinct mechanisms, and the one with any supporting data is the transcriptional one.
- 04The eight residues that are realRead against the human TGF-beta-1 reference sequence, YIWSLDTQ is an authentic segment: residues 328 to 335 of the proprotein, equal to 50 to 57 of the mature chain. That part of the design is exactly what the name implies, a biomimetic fragment.
- 05The four residues nobody explainsThe first four residues, GRGD, contain the canonical RGD motif that cells use to bind to the surrounding matrix through integrins. RGD appears nowhere in TGF-beta-1, and the native residues immediately preceding YIWSLDTQ are different. So two thirds of this molecule is a faithful copy and one third is a deliberate addition, most likely intended as an anchor or a delivery aid. No source explains the choice, and no experiment tests what it contributes. A reader should know that the most distinctive feature of this peptide's design is also the least documented.
What else is it used for?
Each group carries its own evidence level.Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
The design: eight real residues and four unexplained ones
none- lab-analysisYIWSLDTQ is an authentic TGF-beta-1 segment, residues 328 to 335 of the proprotein and 50 to 57 of the mature chain, read positionally from the reference entry.
- lab-analysisThe leading GRGD contains the canonical RGD cell-adhesion motif and appears nowhere in TGF-beta-1. The native residues preceding YIWSLDTQ are different.
- No dataNo published source explains why the RGD motif was added, and no experiment tests what it contributes.
- lab-analysisComposition confirmed by computation rather than repetition: the formula and mass derived from the sequence, C62H91N17O21 at 1410.51, match a published C62H91N17O21 at 1410.49 for the circulating CAS number.
Mechanism, where the sources disagree
Early research- Lab studyThe supplier's mechanism is transcriptional: less MITF, therefore less tyrosinase made. The supporting work is in mouse melanoma cells, supplier-authored, with no replicate counts, no described controls and no statistics.
- No dataThe 2016 melasma paper's abstract instead states the peptide inhibits tyrosinase activity, a direct enzyme claim. No assay supporting that was found anywhere.
- Lab studyAgainst its shelfmates: nonapeptide-1 is a confirmed MC1R antagonist at 40 nM and decapeptide-12 inhibits human tyrosinase weakly at 25 to 35% at 100 micromolar. Both have better documented pharmacology than this peptide does.
Human evidence, and what each study can and cannot show
Early research- Human observationThe supplier panel, 23 women over 56 days, had no vehicle or placebo arm and no p-values, reporting a 2.9% colorimetric change beside a 30% unblinded grading.
- Human trialThe randomized melasma trial cannot isolate the peptide: diacetyl boldine in every arm, sunscreen in the test cream twice daily, other unnamed agents conceded in its own title, and a before-against-after melasma endpoint.
- No dataIts hydroquinone comparison was run on the arms, on sun-protected normal skin, rather than on melasma on the face.
- No dataNo vehicle-controlled human test of the isolated peptide exists in the published record.
Identity and records
none- RegulatoryNo FDA substance registration record exists, so there is no UNII.
- No dataA documented error worth knowing: the only peer-reviewed sequence for this ingredient, in a 2018 review, prints ten residues in near-alphabetical order. That is the set of ten distinct amino acids present in the real twelve-residue sequence, a composition list mislabeled as a sequence.
- RegulatoryA US cream built on it is marketed under the FDA category unapproved drug other, with the agency's disclaimer that it has not been found safe and effective.
- No dataOnly one Quebec ingredient company could be verified as a supplier from a primary document. The two larger suppliers named in secondary coverage were not verified here.
Three things travel with this ingredient that do not hold up. First, the 2016 melasma trial is cited as clinical proof. It is a real randomized trial of two multi-ingredient products: every arm contained diacetyl boldine, the cream carrying this peptide also contained sunscreen applied twice daily, and sunscreen by itself improves melasma. Its own title concedes further unnamed agents, and its hydroquinone comparison was done on the arms rather than the face. Second, two incompatible mechanisms circulate side by side. The supplier says it reduces how much tyrosinase gets made by acting on a transcription factor; the melasma paper's abstract says it inhibits tyrosinase activity directly. Only the first has any supporting experiment, and that experiment is in mouse melanoma cells, supplier-authored, with no statistics. Third, a 2018 review prints a ten-residue sequence for this ingredient. Lined up against the real twelve-residue sequence, that list is its amino acid composition in near-alphabetical order, so a published paper has mislabeled a composition as a structure. One more thing is simply absent rather than wrong: the name promises a TGF-beta-1 mimic, and two thirds of it is exactly that, but nothing explains the four residues at the front that are not in TGF-beta-1 at all.
The published record
Papers about Oligopeptide-68
Searched: oligopeptide-68, beta-White, b-White.
Left out: nonapeptide-1 (a different pigmentation peptide with its own slug, and a BETTER-documented one: a selective MC1R antagonist at Ki 40 nM, real receptor pharmacology from the primary literature. The three pigmentation peptides on this site act at three different points and get conflated); decapeptide-12 (the third pigmentation peptide, with its own slug, a direct tyrosinase inhibitor at 25 to 35% of human tyrosinase at 100 micromolar); TGF-beta-1 (the parent protein the name invokes. Eight of twelve residues ARE an authentic fragment of it, but the protein's literature is vast and almost none of it is about this cosmetic peptide); diacetyl boldine (the other active in every arm of the only randomized trial, which is why that trial cannot attribute anything to this peptide); MITF (the claimed transcriptional target, a major pigmentation-biology term with a large literature); tyrosinase (the downstream enzyme, and the subject of a CONFLICTING mechanism claim for this ingredient that no assay supports).
80 papers tagged human · 72 not reviews or lab · 7 clinical trial publications
How the compound was given: 20 applied to skin · 12 injected · 6 by mouth or rectal · 196 route not stated in the abstract
Read from each paper's indexing terms and abstract, by rule. A paper that mentions a cream studied a cream, not necessarily the product being sold.
3 registered trials · none with posted results
Furthest stage reached: Published trials only, 7 clinical trial publications, no phased trial registered
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count. A preprint and its journal version count once. 231 papers and 3 trials indexed in detail.
At a glance
Four things to know about Oligopeptide-68
Evidence
Cosmetic
Category
Skin and cosmetic
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
Not measured, and not the right question
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.Serum, per product, daily. Not cycled Community practice
Used daily as part of a routine. The effect depends on continued use and returns to baseline when you stop, so there is nothing to cycle off.
Not measured, and not the right questionNo figure
This is a topical cosmetic ingredient. A blood half-life measures how fast something is cleared from the bloodstream, and nothing here is meant to reach the bloodstream. The question that matters for a topical peptide is whether any of it crosses the outer layer of skin at all, and for this ingredient no permeation study exists. That gap matters here, because the claimed target sits inside the melanocyte, in the nucleus.
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
What does it cost?
Typical dose and cost, in plain numbers.Oligopeptide-68 is not injected in the forms covered here
It is taken on the skin (topical). Applied as a topical product at the concentration the manufacturer sets. There is no injected dose. No supplier technical page states a use level, and the one US regulatory label built on this ingredient does not declare the peptide in its structured ingredient table, so no concentration can be given.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Room temperature, out of light. Cap it tight after each use.
Oligopeptide-68 ships as a cream, gel, or serum. Keep it at room temperature away from sun and heat unless the label says otherwise. Refrigerating an emulsion can split the texture. Watch for color, smell, or separation changes and stop using it if any appear.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Solubility, computed: 42% charged residues, 25% hydrophobic. Water usually sufficient.
A first-pass rule from peptide manufacturers' guidance. It does not account for disulfide bridges, salt form or how the powder was dried, and it predicts what should be easy rather than what will happen in your vial.
Who should avoid it
- Treating the 2016 melasma trial as evidence for the peptide, since every arm contained another active and the test cream also contained sunscreen applied twice daily
- Expecting it to work like the two other pigmentation peptides on this site, because both of those act on a receptor or an enzyme while this one is said to act on gene expression, in mouse melanoma cells only
- Taking the ten-residue sequence printed in a 2018 review as its structure, since that list is its amino acid composition in near-alphabetical order rather than a sequence
Stop and get help
- Redness, burning or swelling that persists after use, as with any new topical
- Any worsening of pigmentation, since irritation can cause it
Common effects
- Nothing beyond ordinary topical tolerability has been reported.
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is Oligopeptide-68 approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.Not as a medicine. Oligopeptide-68 is sold without a prescription as a cosmetic ingredient, which is a different thing from being approved as a drug.
- Approval statusCosmeticSold without a prescription as an ingredient in cosmetics, such as skincare and hair products. The FDA does not approve cosmetics before they are sold, and being easy to buy says nothing about whether it works.
- RouteOn the skin (topical)
- Checked5 November 2026
- DoseFrom the concentration range manufacturers formulate at. This is a product strength, not a dose set by a regulator or a trial.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
What has happened recently
A cosmetic ingredient, so there is no approval to have, but one regulatory record is worth reading. A cream built on this ingredient is listed in the FDA's structured product labeling database under the marketing category unapproved drug other, carrying the agency's disclaimer that the product has not been found safe and effective. That label has two further quirks: its structured active-ingredient table does not list oligopeptide-68 at all, declaring amino acids at 0.2 mg in 50 g, with the peptide named only in the product title and the narrative text, and it prints two non-matching inactive-ingredient lists, 17 items in one section and 16 in the other. On substance registration, an exact-field query returns zero records, so there is no UNII. A CAS number does circulate and the composition behind it checks out: the formula and mass computed from the sequence, C62H91N17O21 at 1410.51, match a published C62H91N17O21 at 1410.49 against that number. On supply, only one Quebec ingredient company could be verified from a primary document; the two larger suppliers named in secondary coverage are plausible and were not verified here.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like Oligopeptide-68?
Others in Skin and cosmetic, side by side.If you're weighing Oligopeptide-68, it's worth reading Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-8, and Progeline (Trifluoroacetyl Tripeptide-2) in the same class.
A real TGF-beta-1 fragment with four extra residues nobody explains.
- Dose
- Serum, per product
- How often
- Daily
Pal-VGVAPG, one of the two original palmitoyl peptides Sederma launched in 1992. Judged safe as used in cosmetics; the firming evidence is thin.
- Dose
- A few ppm in the finished product (up to 0.002%)
- How often
- Daily
A skin-calming ingredient built from three residues of a natural anti-inflammatory hormone, backed mainly by supplier tests.
- Dose
- Serum or cream, per product
- How often
- Daily
A topical peptide aimed at sagging rather than lines, borrowed from progeria research.
- Dose
- Serum, per product
- How often
- Daily
Guides for this compound
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- How to Read a Peptide COA
What the purity number does and does not tell you, and how to spot an edited report.
- How to Vet a Peptide Vendor
Independent COAs, HPLC purity, and the red flags that mean walk away.
Sources
- Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, the randomized melasma trial(2016)Volume 15, issue 2, pages 131 to 144. Randomized, double-blind, 12 weeks, 40 women with 38 completing. Melasma improved at weeks 6 and 12 against baseline, p below 0.05. The design cannot credit the peptide, for four independent reasons: every arm contained diacetyl boldine; the cream carrying this peptide also contained sunscreen, applied in the morning and at noon, and photoprotection alone is an effective melasma intervention; the title itself concedes other hypopigmenting and exfoliating agents that the abstract never names; and the melasma endpoint was before against after, with the hydroquinone comparison performed on the arms, on sun-protected normal skin, rather than on the face. It is a real, correctly dated, peer-reviewed trial of a photoprotective multi-agent regimen in which this peptide was one of at least four actives.
- UniProt reference entry P01137, human TGF-beta-1(2026)Read positionally rather than by keyword, this is what settles the design question. YIWSLDTQ occupies residues 328 to 335 of the TGF-beta-1 proprotein, equal to 50 to 57 of the mature chain, so eight of the twelve residues are an authentic fragment. The GRGD at the front occurs nowhere in TGF-beta-1, and the native residues preceding YIWSLDTQ are different. The four added residues carry the canonical RGD cell-adhesion motif, and no published source explains why they were added or tests what they do.
- FDA structured product labeling record for an oligopeptide-68 cream(2026)A topical whitening cream built on this ingredient, labeler Pella Pharmaceuticals, is listed as a human over-the-counter drug under the marketing category unapproved drug other, with the FDA disclaimer that it has not been found safe and effective. Two further details: the structured active-ingredient table does not list the peptide at all, declaring amino acids at 0.2 mg in 50 g, with oligopeptide-68 appearing only in the product title and narrative text; and the label prints two non-matching inactive lists, 17 items against 16.
- Loing and Lacasse, a peptide to influence the melanogenic symphony of skin pigmentation(2013)The source of most figures in circulation, and supplier-authored rather than peer-reviewed: both authors were at the Quebec company the article names as the owner of this ingredient. Human panel: 23 healthy Asian women aged 33 to 55, encapsulated peptide in a test serum twice daily to the whole face for 56 days, measured at baseline, day 28 and day 56. Comparator was baseline only, with no vehicle or placebo group. Colorimetry rose 1.9% at day 28 and 2.9% at day 56, called statistically significant with no p-values given, while dermatologist darkness grading fell 21% and 30%. The gap between a 2.9% instrumental change and a 30% subjective grading, in an unblinded study, is the classic signature of assessor drift. The cell work reports no replicate counts, no described controls and no statistics, and cites safety data as not shown.
Beyond these, 234 records are indexed. Browse the records