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Not FDA approved
This peptide is not FDA approved for human use, and because peptides are often incompletely studied you should not use or self-experiment with it outside qualified medical supervision.
Overview
GHK-Cu, also called prezatide copper or copper tripeptide-1, is the copper complex of the naturally occurring tripeptide GHK (glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine). The reviewed evidence includes cell studies, animal studies, review literature, and some human topical wound or post-procedure studies.
That is not the same as a validated injectable anti-aging or hair-growth protocol: the direct human evidence is limited and mixed, and no FDA-approved GHK-Cu drug product or standardized human self-use dose was identified.
Reported benefits
- Real GHK and GHK-Cu tissue-repair and extracellular-matrix literature exists.
- Topical wound-healing and post-procedure skin-repair studies exist, but the human record is limited and mixed.
- The strongest exact-compound use case is topical skin or wound-healing research rather than broad systemic anti-aging claims.
- Online claims about hair growth, injection protocols, and dramatic cosmetic rejuvenation often go well beyond what the reviewed source set supports.
Mechanism of action
GHK-Cu binds copper and has been studied as a copper-delivery and signaling complex that can influence collagen, proteoglycans, wound-healing pathways, inflammatory signaling, and extracellular-matrix remodeling. The reviewed exact-compound literature supports real biologic activity, but the broader gene-expression and anti-aging claims often come from review-level extrapolation or parent-GHK discussions rather than a strong modern clinical development program.
Reported Use
No FDA dosing guidance
This peptide is not covered by FDA-labeled dosing guidance on this page. Peptides are often investigational or incompletely studied. Do not self-experiment; use only with a doctor or qualified clinician.
Typical dose
No validated human injectable dose was identified.
Frequency
Not established
Injection sites
The reviewed source set does not support a validated self-injection protocol for exact GHK-Cu.
Best timing
Not established
Effects timeline
Not established for injected self-use.
Storage
No validated consumer injectable formulation standard was identified.
Cycle length
Not established
Break between
Not established
Sequence
GLYHISLYS
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Quick Signals
At A Glance
A faster read on evidence, focus, structure, and status.
Evidence
Mostly preclinical
Limited human topical evidence plus broader preclinical and review literature.
128 indexed studiesCurrent level
Preclinical
Scale: low evidence to established use
Safety
Side Effects And Safety
Switch between common side-effect notes and stop criteria to keep safety context visible.
Reported or plausible side effects
- Skin irritation, redness, vehicle reactions, or wound-care product intolerance can occur with topical use.
Key cautions
- The direct human evidence is mostly topical and does not establish injected GHK-Cu safety.
- Small human topical studies mainly describe local tolerability or satisfaction outcomes, not a robust systemic safety dataset.
- Product quality matters; do not treat generic compounded or gray-market injectable GHK-Cu as equivalent to studied topical formulations.
- Strong anti-aging, hair-growth, or injectable claims often exceed the evidence and should not be treated as safety reassurance.
Molecule
Molecular Information
Core structure fields that help explain what kind of peptide this is and how much sequence detail is available.
Molecular weight
402.92 Da
Chain length
3 amino acids
Sequence type
Copper tripeptide complex
Derived from
Naturally occurring glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine
Amino acid sequence source string
GHK
Copper(II)-complexed form also recorded as prezatide copper.
Context
Important Context
The main context that changes how confidently this peptide should be interpreted.
Research status
Limited human topical evidence plus broader preclinical and review literature. The reviewed source set includes animal and cell studies plus some human topical wound or post-procedure studies, but it does not support a validated injectable or oral self-use program.
Regulatory and sport status
FDA review shows it is not FDA approved. Source: openFDA exact-name query. Sport review: Not specifically named by WADA; athlete-specific review advised. Source: 2026 WADA Prohibited List PDF.
Use extra caution if
- • Absence of validated injectable safety data, local irritation risk, and copper-metabolism context all argue against casual non-topical self-use.
Route Notes
Route-Specific Notes
Only shown when the source material adds route-specific details beyond the quick-start guide.
Injectable
- Administration: The reviewed source set does not support a validated self-injection protocol for exact GHK-Cu.
- Absorption: Human injected pharmacokinetics not established
- Cycle: Not established
- Additional: Do not treat gray-market injectable products as equivalent to studied topical formulations.
- Availability: Not applicable
Compare
How Well Documented Is It?
A quick five-point snapshot of how visible and well-documented this peptide is. Higher values mean more coverage or clearer status in that area, not better medical performance.
Research
How much published research coverage this peptide has in the linked sources, with an approval-context floor for clearly established drug products.
Source: PubMed
Regulatory
How clearly the approval or regulatory status is documented for this entry.
Source: openFDA drugsfda API
Sport
How clearly sports or competition status is documented in the linked review sources.
Source: 2026 WADA Prohibited List PDF
Breadth
How broadly this peptide appears across discussion topics and use-case groupings in the catalog.
Source: Curated site taxonomy
Sequence
How much structure or residue-sequence detail is available for this entry.
Source: Sequence
Protocols
Research Protocols
Common protocol-style rows shown in a consistent table layout so every peptide page is easy to compare.
| Goal | Dose | Route | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rat wound extracellular-matrix study | 2 mg per injection | Animal injection | Study-specific |
| Rat ischemic open-wound study | 2% topical gel | Topical | Daily for 13 days |
| Human venous stasis ulcer trial | 0.4% tripeptide-copper cream | Topical | Study-specific wound-care regimen |
| Human post-CO2-laser skin study | GHK-Cu-containing topical skin-care regimen | Topical | Post-procedure use over the study period |
Research
What It Has Been Studied For
Plain-language summaries of the main health areas where this peptide shows up in the linked research.
Stacking
What People Commonly Stack It With
A plain-language view of compounds that are commonly discussed alongside this peptide in the source material.
Practical
Preparation, Quality, And Expectations
Operational checklist blocks designed for quick scanning and repeatable page structure.
How to reconstitute
- •No validated consumer reconstitution protocol was identified for exact GHK-Cu.
- •Much of the reviewed exact human evidence used finished topical products rather than home-mixed injectable vials.
- •Generic bacteriostatic-water or cosmetic-mixing instructions should not be presented as validated medical guidance for GHK-Cu.
Quality indicators
Good signs
- Exact identity matches the prezatide copper / GHK-Cu registry record.
- Claims clearly separate limited human topical evidence from broader preclinical or review literature.
- Product formulation and route are specified instead of assuming all copper-peptide products are interchangeable.
Avoid
- Universal injectable dose, cycle, or reconstitution claims.
- Strong hair-growth or anti-aging promises presented as clinically established.
- Wrong PubChem identity, wrong amino-acid count, or a structure record that does not match GHK-Cu.
- Marketing that implies clear sports permissibility.
What to expect
No reliable universal home-use expectation timeline was established for exact GHK-Cu.
Human topical outcomes were formulation-specific and mixed, so procedure-study timelines should not be turned into a general anti-aging schedule.
References
Research And Source List
Structured reference cards with source metadata and a direct link so users can inspect the original study/source.
Expression of glycosaminoglycans and small proteoglycans in wounds: modulation by the tripeptide-copper complex glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine-Cu(2+)
J Invest Dermatol | 2000
Rat wound and fibroblast paper supporting extracellular-matrix effects.
The effect of topical tripeptide-copper complex on healing of ischemic open wounds
Vet Surg | 2003
Rat topical wound-healing paper.
A prospective randomized evaluator-blinded trial of two potential wound healing agents for the treatment of venous stasis ulcers
J Vasc Surg | 1992
Human venous-ulcer trial showing no difference between the tripeptide-copper cream and placebo.
Effects of topical copper tripeptide complex on CO2 laser-resurfaced skin
Arch Facial Plast Surg | 2006
Human post-procedure trial with mixed results.
Exploring the beneficial effects of GHK-Cu on an experimental model of colitis and the underlying mechanisms
Int Immunopharmacol | 2025
Newer exact-compound preclinical paper showing continued mechanistic interest.
Regenerative and protective actions of the GHK-Cu peptide in the light of new gene data
Int J Mol Sci | 2018
Review used for broader context without treating it as direct clinical proof.
PubChem compound record
Technical
Registry support for prezatide copper identity.
FDA substance registration page
FDA
Official FDA registry context for the named substance.
2026 WADA Prohibited List PDF
WADA
Official anti-doping source used for current review.