GHK
Skin & hair Research only Animal studies
Also called Glycyl-histidyl-lysine, Tripeptide-1
A three-amino-acid peptide found naturally in blood plasma, saliva and urine. Levels fall with age. It is released from collagen after injury and influences many genes involved in tissue remodeling. This is the copper-free form; it readily picks up copper to become GHK-Cu.
Evidence at a glance
- Evidence
- Animal studies — Not yet studied in people
- Status
- Research compound only
- Dosing
- No human study has set a dose
Most evidence is cell culture and topical; blood levels fall with age but restoring them has not been shown to help.
What studies report
- Shifts the activity of thousands of genes toward tissue repair in human cell studies
- Wound healing and anti-inflammatory effects in animal models
- Hair follicle stimulation in cell culture
How it works
A tripeptide released from collagen after injury. It shifts the activity of a very large set of genes toward tissue repair, and readily picks up copper, which is how it becomes GHK-Cu.
Where it acts
Acts in the skin, throughout the bodyThe library groups this compound under Skin & hair. The diagram shows that target, not every tissue it reaches.
Illustrated
AI-generated subject illustration; not a depiction of the compound or evidence of its effects.
Why people take it
Reasons people seek it out — not a list of proven effects.
In practice Unapproved use
- Used topically, though the copper-bound form dominates the market
- Appears in pre-mixed recovery blends alongside BPC-157 and thymosin-β4
Reported real-world use, not evidence and not a recommendation.
Status: Used in cosmetics. Lab and animal research for other uses.
- Route
- Topical
- Sequence
- Gly-His-Lys
- Formula
- C14H24N6O4
- Molecular weight
- 340.38 g/mol
- CAS
- 49557-75-7
- Available as
- 50 mg
Search PubMed for GHK → We link a live search rather than a fixed citation list, so it stays current and nothing here is a reference we have not checked.
Compared with
Side-by-side pages for the compounds this one is most often confused with or taken alongside.
Educational information only. Nothing here is medical advice, a dosing protocol, or a recommendation to use any compound. Most entries describe substances not approved for human use. Talk to a licensed clinician before acting on anything you read here. How to read these entries.