PeptideTreatments
Reviewed by Peptide Treatments Medical Advisory Board (Medical Advisory Board)

AHK-Cu: Research & Evidence

Early-Stage Research

Published research, clinical trial data, and evidence grading for AHK-Cu across studied indications.

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Research Summary

AHK-Cu has essentially no human clinical data. The single relevant study (PMID: 17703734) used excised human hair follicles in organ culture — not living patients — and found increased follicle elongation and dermal papilla cell proliferation. There are zero human RCTs, zero in vivo human studies, and zero published safety data for AHK-Cu specifically. Most commercial copper peptide research refers to GHK-Cu, not AHK-Cu. The sequence difference (alanine vs glycine as the first amino acid) makes it a fundamentally different molecule with potentially different binding properties.

Evidence by Indication (2 indications)

Indication Tier Trials Summary
Hair growth (androgenetic alopecia) Tier D 0 Single ex vivo study only — no in vivo human data
Skin rejuvenation Tier D 0 No studies; claims extrapolated from GHK-Cu data

Graded using our evidence tier methodology.

Citations (2 sources)

  1. 1. Effects of AHK-Cu on hair follicle elongation and dermal papilla cell proliferation Study

    Philp D, et al. (2007), Journal of Investigative Dermatology

  2. 2. The effect of tripeptide-copper complex on human hair growth in vitro. Study

    Pyo HK, Yoo HG, Won CH, et al. (2007), Archives of pharmacal research