What it is

AHK-Cu is an analogue of GHK-Cu with alanine in place of glycine. It appears in cosmetic scalp serums as "copper tripeptide-3" or similar.

How it works

In the one study, AHK-Cu stimulated dermal papilla cell growth and shifted survival signals (higher Bcl-2/Bax ratio, lower cleaved caspase-3 and PARP), which suggests less papilla-cell death. The authors note that the related copper peptide raises VEGF and lowers TGF-beta1 in fibroblasts (Pyo 2007).

What the studies show

At 10^-12 to 10^-9 mol/L, AHK-Cu gave longer human follicles and more papilla-cell proliferation in the lab. The drop in cell death at the highest dose was not statistically significant. Pyo 2007

How it's used in studies

Only the lab concentrations above. There are no human dosing data.

Side effects and safety

There are no human hair safety data. Skin tolerance of topical copper peptides is generally reported as good, but no scalp study was verified.

Bottom line

Weak evidence. It is biologically plausible and was tested once in vitro by a Korean university group, but never in a human trial. Treat serum claims as marketing. Discuss with a doctor before using it in place of a proven treatment.

Studies 1

Pyo HK et al. The effect of tripeptide-copper complex on human hair growth in vitro. Arch Pharm Res. 2007

Design: in vitro
Who: human hair follicles and cultured dermal papilla cells

Tested: AHK-Cu at 10^-12 to 10^-9 mol/L

Result: Follicles grew longer and dermal papilla cells proliferated more; the fall in cell death at the highest dose was not statistically significant.

Read the study ↗