GHK-Cu 50 mg

How it works

GHK-Cu is the copper-bound form of GHK, a naturally occurring tripeptide made of glycine, histidine, and lysine. It is detectable in human plasma, saliva, and urine, and its concentration is reported to decline with age, which partly explains the research interest in skin and tissue repair.^[1] In the literature it also appears as Cu-GHK, GHK copper, copper tripeptide, and prezatide copper.

GHK-Cu is studied mainly in dermatology and wound-healing research, with a smaller and less certain body of work on hair follicles. It is not a single approved drug -- it shows up in cosmetic products, compounded preparations, and a handful of registered clinical studies, each with its own evidence and regulatory picture.

Benefits & side effects

The most substantive human evidence for GHK-Cu is topical. A review of controlled studies described Cu-GHK creams and eye creams associated with improvements in skin density, thickness, elasticity, and wrinkle appearance over 12-week periods in small groups of women.^[2] One older, small study of 20 women reported new collagen production in 70% of those using a Cu-GHK product after one month, versus 50% for vitamin C and 40% for retinoic acid -- a notable but dated comparison never broadly replicated.^[2]

The strongest clinical signal comes from a randomized, placebo-controlled diabetic-ulcer trial, where topical glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine copper gel was associated with 98.5% ulcer closure versus 60.8% for vehicle, plus a lower infection rate, within a standardized wound-care protocol.^[3] Hair-growth evidence is weaker, resting mainly on a 1991 mouse study and an in-vitro human follicle model rather than clinical trials in people with hair loss.^[6][13] Injectable and whole-body anti-aging claims have essentially no comparable human evidence.