AHK-Cu: what the studies show, status and safety
Summary
AHK-Cu is a copper complex of a lab-made peptide of three building blocks, sold as a cosmetic raw material and, separately, as an injectable research powder. Exactly one peer-reviewed study has ever tested it, in cells and in hair follicles kept alive in a dish. No study in people exists, no expert panel has assessed its safety, and the name sellers print on labels is not the one the binding EU glossary carries. It is a different substance from GHK-Cu, and no GHK-Cu result counts as evidence for it.
Key findings at a glance
- One peer-reviewed study, ever. A single paper from 2007 used AHK-Cu as its test substance [1]. It worked with human hair follicles kept alive in a dish and with cells from the hair root. Everything else is a passing mention or a different molecule [2], [3].
- The one result with a statistical test missed significance. The drop in the number of dying hair-root cells was, in the authors' own words, "not statistically significant" [1].
- Zero registered trials and zero people. Three separate registry searches on 20 September 2026 returned no study [4]. Nothing published describes a person receiving AHK-Cu [2].
- The only animal data sit in a patent from 1996. Mice injected under the skin grew hair between days 14 and 20 [5]. The strongest effect came around day 29, in patches of roughly 0.5 to 5 cm². A patent is not peer-reviewed literature, and nobody has repeated the work.
- The name on the label is not the official one. The binding EU glossary has no entry called Copper Tripeptide-3, which is the name traders use. It does carry an entry that fits the substance by description, Alanine/Histidine/Lysine Polypeptide Copper HCL, but the glossary gives names and nothing else, so the match cannot be proved from the legal text [6].
- No expert panel has ever assessed it. The relevant American review covers Tripeptide-1 and Hexapeptide-12, not AHK [7], and the European consumer safety committee has issued no opinion.
- Roughly 15.3 per cent of the molecule by mass is copper. That is about 153 mg of copper per gram, calculated from the formula rather than measured [8].
What it is
AHK-Cu is a copper(II) complex of the tripeptide alanine-histidine-lysine, written Ala-His-Lys. Three amino acids are strung together and one copper ion is bound to them. The active unit is the metal complex rather than the bare peptide.
It came out of a screening programme at the ProCyte Corporation in Redmond, Washington, the same company that developed GHK-Cu. The patent that first describes it was filed on 17 June 1994 and granted on 23 July 1996 [5]. No medicine was ever developed from it, anywhere.
The difference from GHK-Cu is one building block at the front of the chain: alanine instead of glycine, which chemically is a single methyl group. That is the whole structural distance between the two molecules, and it separates two very different piles of data.
Quick facts
| Field | Value | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Common name | AHK-Cu, also written AHK:Cu or Cu-AHK | [9] |
| Sold under | Copper Tripeptide-3, a trade name with no official standing | [6], [10] |
| Name in the binding EU glossary | Alanine/Histidine/Lysine Polypeptide Copper HCL fits it by description; the glossary lists names only | [6] |
| Class | Copper complex of a lab-made peptide of three building blocks | [9] |
| Sequence | Ala-His-Lys, plus one copper(II) ion | [5] |
| Formula and mass, with hydrochloride | C15H24ClCuN6O4⁻, 451.39 g/mol | [9] |
| Formula and mass, without hydrochloride | C15H23CuN6O4²⁻, 414.93 g/mol | [8] |
| Copper share by mass | About 15.3 per cent, calculated from the formula | [8] |
| Copper-free peptide | C15H26N6O4, 354.41 g/mol, CAS 126828-32-8 | [11] |
| CAS registry numbers | 682809-81-0 and 767286-83-9 for the two copper forms | [9], [8] |
| PubChem CID | 168431292 and 178189140 | [9], [8] |
| InChIKey | DTNUNAICWDULHO-UVEFGIHYSA-L and ZVKPVDJSTIFVQR-LBRAPMIBSA-L | [9], [8] |
| How long it lasts in the body | Never measured, in any species | [2] |
| Official drug identifiers | None: no drug code, no international drug name, no identifier for the complex | [12] |
| Status | Cosmetic raw material and research chemical; approved as a medicine nowhere | [13], [14] |
| Developer | ProCyte Corporation; development stopped after the patent | [5] |
The thinness of the record is itself a finding. The entry for the copper complex most commonly traded carries one single synonym, the registry number itself [8].
The American substance register holds an entry for the copper-free peptide but none for the copper complex, while GHK-Cu sits there under its own drug name [12]. A Wikidata search returns nothing, where GHK-Cu has an entry [15].
What is known about handling the material comes from traders rather than from literature. Shop listings describe a pale blue powder that dissolves in water, and they publish handling and formulation advice of their own, none of it backed by data or by independent testing [10].
None of that has been checked independently, and no pharmacopoeia entry exists against which a batch could be tested.
How it works
Nobody knows how AHK-Cu works. Every idea below comes from cells in a dish or from reasoning by analogy, and none has been tested in a living human being.
- Growth of cells from the hair root. The dermal papilla is the small bundle of tissue that feeds a hair. In the only study of the substance, cells from it multiplied more and showed higher viability in a standard growth test [1].
- Less cell death in those cells. A shift in two proteins that govern cell survival was reported, along with less of the cut forms of two others [1]. The one cell-death measurement that carries a statistical test missed significance, so this remains an idea rather than a finding.
- A longer growth phase of the follicle. Hair follicles taken from people and kept alive in a dish grew longer under treatment [1]. That is an organ-culture observation, not a clinical result.
- The general copper-peptide story. Copper transport, new blood vessels and tissue remodelling are often invoked. All of it comes from the GHK-Cu literature and none of it has been tested for AHK-Cu. The 2026 review states plainly that the signalling of AHK-Cu is "less well characterized than GHK-Cu" [16].
One gap runs through all of it. The 2007 experiments included neither a copper salt on its own nor the copper-free peptide as a comparison [1]. Which part of any effect belongs to the peptide, to the copper ion or to the complex is therefore untested.
What the studies found
The whole body of evidence is one peer-reviewed paper from 2007, plus a patent from 1996 and a review from 2026 that repeats the 2007 numbers. There is nothing else.
Counted from PubMed, Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov searches on 20 September 2026. Sources [2], [3], [4].
Hair follicles kept alive in a dish
Ex vivo organ culture Human hair follicles grew longer when AHK-Cu was added to the medium, across a concentration range of 10⁻¹² to 10⁻⁹ M [1]. The number of follicles is not given in the abstract, and the full text is not freely available. The 2026 review reports the same experiment with a wider range, 10⁻¹³ to 10⁻⁷ M, and its own table calls 10⁻⁹ M the optimal concentration [16]. Both figures are given here because the two accounts disagree.
Cells from the hair root
Cell culture Cells from the dermal papilla multiplied more, measured as higher viability in a standard dye-conversion test [1], [16]. No cell numbers are reported in the abstract. Such a test measures how many cells survive and convert a dye, and nothing more.
Cell death: the result that missed significance
Cell culture, not significant At 10⁻⁹ M the count of dying cells fell, and the paper states in plain words that "this decrease was not statistically significant" [1]. The supporting protein measurements, a higher Bcl-2 to Bax ratio and less cut caspase-3 and PARP, were reported without any statistical test at all. The authors themselves wrote that their study "proposed" the effect. The 2026 review repeats the same experiment as "fewer apoptotic DPCs" and drops the caveat, which is how the finding travels [16].
Mice, in a patent rather than a journal
Animal data, not peer-reviewed After injection into the skin of C3H mice, the patent reports active hair growth between days 14 and 20 [5]. The strongest effect came around day 29, in patches of roughly 0.5 to 5 cm². Applied to the skin at 0.5 per cent, AHK-Cu is described as more active than related peptides, with readings on days 20, 27 and 34. These are the only living-animal data that exist for the substance. They were never published in a journal, and the company that filed the patent had an obvious interest in the outcome.
What is still unknown
- Everything about people. No trial, no case series, no case report, by any route [4], [2].
- What the body does with it. Half-life, uptake, distribution and whether it crosses intact skin have never been measured, in any species [2].
- Whether it is toxic. No single-dose, repeat-dose, genetic, reproductive or cancer testing has been published.
- What the molecule even looks like in solution. No crystal structure, no binding constant and no redox measurement exists for AHK-Cu [17], [18].
- Which part does the work. Peptide, copper ion or complex: untested, because the controls were not run [1].
Side effects and safety
No side effects are known, and that is a statement about the state of research rather than about the substance. Nobody has ever run a safety study of AHK-Cu, in people or in animals.
- No expert assessment exists. The American ingredient review published in 2018 covers Tripeptide-1, Hexapeptide-12 and their salts and derivatives, not AHK [7]. The European consumer safety committee has issued no opinion. Responsibility rests entirely with whoever puts a finished product on the market [13].
- No adverse-event reports. The American database held no report under the name on 20 September 2026, while the same query for GHK-Cu returned two [19]. For a substance that is not a medicine, a zero here means almost nothing.
- No toxicity endpoints in the one study. The 2007 work measured cell viability, which is not a safety test [1].
- Skin irritation is an open question. Copper compounds have a known irritation profile as a class, but no irritation or sensitisation data exist for AHK-Cu itself.
- Injection is the sharpest gap. No toxicology, no pharmacokinetics and no clinical data exist for the injected form at all. GHK-Cu at least came to the attention of the American compounding regulator: it appears on that page among the substances nominated and then withdrawn, for injectable routes. AHK-Cu does not, because nobody ever put it forward [20].
- Copper load is unmeasured. About 15.3 per cent of the molecule by mass is copper [8]. Injection bypasses the regulation that the gut normally applies to copper uptake, and no data on copper balance after repeated use exist.
- Purity cannot be checked against anything. With no pharmacopoeia entry, there is no agreed test for identity, purity or content of traded material. The purity figures in circulation come from the sellers themselves [10].
No contraindications can be listed, because there is no approved use and no clinical experience to draw them from.
Doses used in studies
These are the doses used in the cited studies, listed for reference. They are not a recommendation.
Every line below is a culture medium or an animal experiment. The concentrations are amounts added to liquid around cells, and no method exists for turning such a number into an amount for a person.
| Study | Model | Dose | Route | Frequency | Duration | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyo 2007, follicles and hair-root cells | Human hair follicles ex vivo; human dermal papilla cells | 10⁻¹² to 10⁻⁹ M; the cell-death work used 10⁻⁹ M | Added to the culture medium | Continuous | Length of the culture, not given in the abstract | [1] |
| Fan 2026, review table on that same study | Human hair follicle, ex vivo | 10⁻¹³ to 10⁻⁷ M, with 10⁻⁹ M called optimal in the review table | Culture medium | Not given | Not given | [16] |
| US patent 5,538,945, mouse work | C3H mouse | Peptide-to-copper ratios of 2:1 and 1:1 at 10 mg/ml; 0.5 per cent on the skin | Injected into the skin; applied to the skin | Not stated consistently | Readings to day 34 | [5] |
No dosing figure for a person has ever been published, for any route. The charts and reconstitution instructions circulating online rest on nothing. They extrapolate from GHK-Cu, which has no human data on uptake and breakdown of its own either.
On the field as a whole, the 2026 review observes: "To our surprise, most studies have not explained how they determined the optimal dosage." [16]
Development and approval status
AHK-Cu has never entered drug development. It is a cosmetic raw material with a patent behind it and nothing else, and its regulatory footing as a cosmetic is weaker than sellers suggest.
From company patent to an unchecked ingredient
- 17 June 1994Patent filed by the ProCyte CorporationHair growth from peptide copper complexes, ref [5]
- 23 July 1996US patent 5,538,945 grantedC3H mouse experiments, ref [5]
- 2007The only peer-reviewed study appearsHuman hair follicles and hair-root cells, ref [1]
- 2018The expert safety review covers Tripeptide-1, not AHKRef [7]
- April 2022Current EU ingredient glossary published without a Copper Tripeptide-3 entryRef [6]
- 2026A review lists AHK-Cu as experimental evidence onlyEx vivo level, ref [16]
- 20 September 2026Registers checked: no approval, no trial, no assessmentRefs [4], [14], [12]
- 1994 to 1996 — the patent is filed and granted; development stops there [5].
- 2007 — the single peer-reviewed study is published in a pharmacy journal [1].
- 2018 — the American expert review of copper peptides appears and covers a different peptide [7].
- 2022 — the current version of the binding EU ingredient glossary contains five copper tripeptide entries, none of them Copper Tripeptide-3, alongside the entry Alanine/Histidine/Lysine Polypeptide Copper HCL, which already stood in the 2019 version [6], [26].
- 2026 — a review of short peptides for hair loss files AHK-Cu under experimental evidence, at the ex vivo level [16].
| Market | Status | Note | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Not approved | Cosmetic use unchecked, no pre-market clearance | [14], [21] |
| European Union | Not approved | Not banned; the trade name used is not a glossary name | [13], [6] |
| Germany | Not approved | EU rules apply directly | [13] |
| United Kingdom | Not approved | Not banned in the retained rules | [22] |
| Australia | Not approved | Prescription class above 5 per cent copper compounds | [23] |
| Canada | Not approved | Not on the prohibited list | [24] |
| Switzerland | Not approved | Follows the EU text, labelling names included | [25] |
Two points deserve spelling out. EU law requires labels to use the glossary name, and Copper Tripeptide-3 is not in the glossary [26], [6]. A product labelled that way therefore does not meet the labelling rule, whichever of the listed names the material actually belongs under [13].
In Australia a generic entry catches copper compounds for human use in preparations above 5 per cent [23]. That leaves cosmetics outside, but pulls raw powder and injectable vials into the prescription class.
The American drug register, the label database and the medicines database all return nothing for the substance [14], [27], [28]. It is not on the list of bulk substances pharmacies may compound from [29]. All searches behind this table were run on 20 September 2026.
Anti-doping
AHK-Cu does not appear on the 2026 Prohibited List by name; searches for the substance and its variants returned nothing [30]. What catches it is class S0, which covers "any pharmacological substance which is not addressed by any of the subsequent sections of the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use" [30]. Injected AHK-Cu fits that description exactly, since no authority anywhere has approved it.
The distinction that matters is between a syringe and a hair serum. A cosmetic applied to the skin is not a medicine, and it is not obviously a pharmacological substance in the sense of S0. The anti-doping agency has published no clarification on cosmetic ingredients.
German anti-doping law does not name the substance either, and the categories its schedule lists do not fit it [31]. The American college sports list says plainly that it is "neither a complete nor exhaustive list" [32].
For an athlete facing a test, a missing name offers no protection: the injected form falls under the S0 wording, and only the national anti-doping agency can settle the question for a given product. Further detail sits under peptides banned in sport.
Compared with related peptides
| Peptide | Relation to AHK-Cu | Substance-specific human data | Official ingredient name | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AHK-Cu | — | None at all [4], [2] | Not the one on the label; a matching entry exists [6] | Approved nowhere [14] |
| GHK-Cu | One building block apart: glycine instead of alanine | Not assessed on this page | Copper Tripeptide-1, listed [6] | Assessed by the expert panel in 2018 [7] |
| DAHK | Four building blocks, contains the Ala-His-Lys stretch | Not assessed on this page | Not a cosmetic ingredient name | Research substance [33] |
| KPV | A different tripeptide sold the same way | Not assessed on this page | None | Approved nowhere, caught by class S0 [30] |
| TB-500 | A different peptide from the same grey market | Not assessed on this page | None | Approved nowhere, caught by class S0 [30] |
The row that matters is the second one. GHK-Cu is a peptide the body makes, its ingredient name is tied to a defined sequence, and it has been through an expert safety review [6], [7]. AHK-Cu has none of that.
Nothing measured for GHK-Cu transfers to AHK-Cu, and this page cites no GHK-Cu result as evidence for AHK-Cu.
DAHK sits in the table for a different reason. It is the front end of human serum albumin, a separate molecule with its own research history, and its name contains the letters Ala-His-Lys [33]. That is why database searches mix the two.
Even the physical chemistry has been done for the neighbours and not for AHK-Cu. How tightly each holds copper at pH 7.4 has been measured as a dissociation constant, the concentration at which half the complex falls apart: 7.0 ± 1.0 × 10⁻¹⁴ M for GHK and 2.6 ± 0.4 × 10⁻¹⁴ M for DAHK [18].
The copper in the GHK complex can be reduced at about −0.62 V and then released, while the DAHK complex behaves differently [17]. Both sets of numbers belong to other molecules.
Where AHK-Cu falls between them is unknown. That matters, because copper that can be released can do damage as well as good.
Common misconceptions
Searches run on 20 September 2026. Of the five Europe PMC hits, one paper actually tests the substance; the longer lists are dominated by the unrelated peptide DAHK. Sources [2], [3].
- "AHK-Cu and GHK-Cu are basically the same." They are two substances with separate registry numbers and separate data. Every collagen, wound-healing and hair result people quote belongs to GHK-Cu [9], [16]. The 2007 paper makes the mix-up easy, because its title says "tripeptide-copper complex" and never names AHK-Cu [1].
- "Copper Tripeptide-3 is the official ingredient name." It appears in no version of the binding glossary [26], [6]. The glossary does list Alanine/Histidine/Lysine Polypeptide Copper HCL, a name that fits AHK-Cu, and Copper Tripeptide-34; which of them the traded material belongs under could not be settled, because the legal text gives names only and the databases carrying those names give neither a sequence nor a registry number [34], [35].
- "The literature on alanyl-histidyl-lysine is literature on AHK-Cu." Most of those hits concern DAHK, the four-part front end of albumin, whose name simply contains the shorter one [33]. One much-quoted hair-growth paper tested a mixture containing Copper Tripeptide-1, which is GHK [36].
- "The 2007 study showed that AHK-Cu blocks cell death." The only endpoint tested statistically missed significance, in the authors' own words [1].
- "AHK-Cu is a peptide the body makes." That is GHK. No natural occurrence of Ala-His-Lys has ever been documented [5].
- "The FDA does not list it as a risk, so it is safer than GHK-Cu." That list only holds substances put forward for pharmacy compounding. GHK-Cu appears there among those nominated and then withdrawn; AHK-Cu is missing because nobody ever put it forward [20].
- "Tripeptide-3 in the literature means AHK." Not reliably. A 2024 formulation paper states in its methods that its "Tripeptide-3" was dipeptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate, registry number 823202-99-9, a completely different substance [37].
Frequently asked questions
Is AHK-Cu the same thing as GHK-Cu?
No. The two differ by one building block at the front end, alanine instead of glycine, which is a single methyl group. They are separate substances with separate registry numbers and completely separate bodies of data. GHK is a peptide the body makes itself; AHK comes from a company screening programme in 1994 and has one peer-reviewed study behind it.
Has AHK-Cu ever been tested in people?
No. A search of the ClinicalTrials.gov registry on 20 September 2026 under three different terms returned no study at all. Nothing published describes AHK-Cu being applied to or injected into a person, either in a controlled trial or in a case report.
Is AHK-Cu approved anywhere?
No country has approved it as a medicine, and there is no entry in the American, European or Japanese reference books for medicines. As a cosmetic ingredient it is not banned in the EU, the UK, Canada, Switzerland or Australia, but not being banned is not the same as having been checked.
Is Copper Tripeptide-3 the official ingredient name of AHK-Cu?
No. The binding EU glossary of ingredient names has no entry called Copper Tripeptide-3 at all. Its copper tripeptide entries are Copper Tripeptide-1, its acetate and palmitamide, Copper Tripeptide-34 and Copper Tripeptide-34 HCL, and it carries a separate entry, Alanine/Histidine/Lysine Polypeptide Copper HCL, whose wording fits AHK-Cu. The glossary lists names without sequences or registry numbers, so neither match can be proved from the legal text itself.
What did the 2007 AHK-Cu hair study actually find?
The authors worked with human hair follicles kept alive in a dish and with cells from the hair root. They report longer follicles and more cell growth between 10⁻¹² and 10⁻⁹ M. The only cell-death measurement that carries a statistical test, the number of dying cells, missed significance, and the authors wrote that their conclusion was a proposal.
Is AHK-Cu a peptide the body makes itself?
No. That description belongs to GHK, which turns up in human blood plasma, saliva and urine and sits inside the collagen sequence. No natural occurrence of Ala-His-Lys has been documented. AHK-Cu is a synthetic analogue that came out of a patent screening programme.
What are the side effects of AHK-Cu?
Nobody knows, because nobody has studied it. The American adverse-event database held no report under the name on 20 September 2026, which reflects the absence of documented use rather than a clean safety record. No toxicity testing of any kind has been published.
Is AHK-Cu banned in sport?
It is not printed on the 2026 Prohibited List by name. Class S0 covers any drug-like substance that no health authority anywhere approves for human treatment, and the injected form fits that wording exactly. A cosmetic applied to the skin is not automatically caught, and the anti-doping agency has issued no statement on cosmetic ingredients.
Why does this page list AHK-Cu concentrations?
The numbers come from published experiments in cell cultures, in hair follicles kept alive in a dish and in mice. They are listed so that the evidence can be read as it stands. They describe culture media and animal experiments, and they cannot be converted into an amount for a person.
Does the missing FDA risk listing mean AHK-Cu is safer than GHK-Cu?
No, and the reverse reading is the honest one. That list only holds substances that somebody put forward for pharmacy compounding. GHK-Cu appears there among the substances that were nominated and then withdrawn; AHK-Cu is absent because nobody ever put it forward. The gap records official unfamiliarity, not an all-clear.
Sources
- Pyo HK, Yoo HG, Won CH, Lee SH, Kang YJ, Eun HC, Cho KH, Kim KH (2007). The effect of tripeptide-copper complex on human hair growth in vitro. Archives of Pharmacal Research 30(7):834-839. PMID 17703734. DOI 10.1007/BF02978833. The only peer-reviewed paper in which AHK-Cu is the test substance; abstract retrieved 20 September 2026, full text not freely available.
- NCBI E-utilities. Seven search strategies run on 20 September 2026: "AHK-Cu" (1 hit), "AHK copper peptide" (1), "AHK-Cu hair" (1), "copper tripeptide-3" (0), "alanyl-histidyl-lysine" (15), "Ala-His-Lys" (29) and "alanine histidine lysine copper" (8). The abstracts of 14 papers were read individually; all but PMID 17703734 proved unrelated or were passing mentions. https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/
- Europe PMC REST search API. Queries run on 20 September 2026: "AHK-Cu" (5 hits), "AHK Cu" (5), "alanyl-histidyl-lysine" with copper (12), "Ala-His-Lys" with copper (44) and "tripeptide-3" (92). Exactly one of the AHK-Cu hits tests the substance. https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/
- ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Queries for "AHK-Cu", "copper tripeptide-3" and "alanyl-histidyl-lysine", each returning a total count of zero. Retrieved 20 September 2026. https://clinicaltrials.gov/
- Pallenberg AJ, Patt LM, Trachy RE / ProCyte Corporation (1996). Stimulation of hair growth by peptide copper complexes. US patent 5,538,945; filed 17 June 1994, granted 23 July 1996. Retrieved 20 September 2026. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5538945A/en
- European Commission. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/677 of 31 March 2022, current version of the glossary of common ingredient names, OJ L 127, 29 April 2022. Full text downloaded and searched on 20 September 2026: entries 7337 to 7341 are COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-1, COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-1 ACETATE, COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-1 PALMITAMIDE, COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-34 and COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-34 HCL; entry 1468 is ALANINE/HISTIDINE/LYSINE POLYPEPTIDE COPPER HCL. Hits for "COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-3" as an exact entry and for "AHK": none. The glossary is a list of names with no sequences, CAS or EC numbers, so it identifies no substance on its own. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32022D0677
- Cosmetic Ingredient Review (2018). Safety Assessment of Tripeptide-1, Hexapeptide-12, Their Metal Salts and Fatty Acyl Derivatives, and Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 as Used in Cosmetics. International Journal of Toxicology 37, November 2018. DOI 10.1177/1091581818807863. Title and metadata verified through Crossref on 20 September 2026; the report covers Tripeptide-1, not AHK.
- PubChem. Compound CID 178189140, the AHK-Cu complex without hydrochloride; C15H23CuN6O4 2-, 414.93 g/mol, InChIKey ZVKPVDJSTIFVQR-LBRAPMIBSA-L. Its only synonym is the registry number 767286-83-9. PUG-REST query of 20 September 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/178189140
- PubChem. Compound CID 168431292, AHK-Cu monohydrochloride; C15H24ClCuN6O4-, 451.39 g/mol, InChIKey DTNUNAICWDULHO-UVEFGIHYSA-L, CAS 682809-81-0. PUG-REST query of 20 September 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/168431292
- Raw-material shops and grey-market listings recorded through web searches on 20 September 2026. They document the market only, not efficacy, safety or legal status: powder and ready-made solutions sold under the name Copper Tripeptide-3 with purity figures the sellers set themselves, together with formulation and handling advice, and separately freeze-dried vials labelled for laboratory use. No trader is named and no figure from these listings is repeated as guidance.
- PubChem. Compound CID 7408502, the copper-free peptide AHK; C15H26N6O4, 354.41 g/mol, CAS 126828-32-8, UNII 1AVY5QO8WR, CHEBI:158225, DTXSID80428622. Retrieved 20 September 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/7408502
- US Food and Drug Administration, Global Substance Registration System. Queries for "alanyl histidyl lysine copper", "AHK-Cu", the two registry numbers and "copper tripeptide-3" on 20 September 2026. Found: ALANYLHISTIDYLLYSINE (copper-free) and PREZATIDE COPPER, which is GHK-Cu. No entry for the AHK copper complex. https://gsrs.ncats.nih.gov/
- Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, consolidated version of 18 May 2026 (CELEX 02009R1223-20260518). Full text searched on 20 September 2026: no hits for "tripeptide" or "AHK" in any annex; copper appears only as colourant complexes and as nano and colloidal copper in Annex II. Article 19(1)(g) requires the glossary name on the label. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX%3A02009R1223-20260518
- openFDA, Drugs@FDA API. Query for the substance name "AHK-CU" on 20 September 2026 returned nothing; the control query for semaglutide returned records. https://api.fda.gov/drug/drugsfda.json
- Wikidata, wbsearchentities API. Query for "AHK-Cu" on 20 September 2026 returned no entity; GHK-Cu is Q5168796. https://www.wikidata.org/
- Fan C, Chen Y, Huang Q, Ou WY, Zhang C, Sun Y, Wu T, Leung OY, Iu HC, Shi J (2026). Overview of Short Peptides for Hair Loss. Biomedicines 14(4):864. PMID 42072405. DOI 10.3390/biomedicines14040864. Full text retrieved through Europe PMC on 20 September 2026; the six passages naming AHK-Cu were read individually.
- Hureau C, Eury H, Guillot R, Bijani C, Sayen S, Solari PL, Guillon E, Faller P, Dorlet P (2011). X-ray and solution structures of Cu(II) GHK and Cu(II) DAHK complexes: influence on their redox properties. Chemistry 17(36):10151-10160. PMID 21780203. DOI 10.1002/chem.201100751. Cited for contrast only: these structures and redox data exist for GHK and DAHK, not for AHK.
- Trapaidze A, Hureau C, Bal W, Winterhalter M, Faller P (2012). Thermodynamic study of Cu2+ binding to the DAHK and GHK peptides by isothermal titration calorimetry with the weaker competitor glycine. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry 17(1):37-47. PMID 21898044. Cited for contrast only; no comparable value exists for AHK-Cu.
- openFDA, adverse event API (FAERS). Queries for the product names "AHK-CU" and "AHK" on 20 September 2026 returned nothing; the control query for "GHK-CU" returned two reports. https://api.fda.gov/drug/event.json
- US Food and Drug Administration. Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks; page content current as of 22 April 2026, read in full on 20 September 2026. AHK-Cu does not appear. GHK-Cu appears among substances nominated and then withdrawn, for injectable routes. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-present-significant-safety-risks
- US Food and Drug Administration. Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022. Cosmetic ingredients other than colour additives need no pre-market approval; registration, listing and safety substantiation rest with the manufacturer. Retrieved 20 September 2026. https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/modernization-cosmetics-regulation-act-2022-mocra
- Retained Annex II of the Cosmetic Products Regulation, list of substances prohibited in cosmetic products. Checked on 20 September 2026: no entries for "tripeptide", "AHK" or "alanyl"; copper appears only as a colourant complex. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2009/1223/annex/II
- Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard - June 2026) Instrument 2026, F2026L00633. Full text downloaded and searched on 20 September 2026: no hits for "AHK" or "tripeptide". Schedule 4 reads "COPPER COMPOUNDS for human use except: (a) when separately specified in these Schedules; ... or (c) in other preparations containing 5% or less of copper compounds." https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L00633
- Health Canada. Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist, prohibited and restricted ingredients; page modified 13 August 2025, checked on 20 September 2026. No entry for copper compounds, peptides or tripeptides; control checks for cadmium, lead and zirconium entries succeeded. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/consumer-product-safety/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredient-hotlist-prohibited-restricted-ingredients/hotlist.html
- Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs. Ordinance on cosmetic products (VKos, SR 817.023.31), version of 1 January 2026. PDF downloaded, converted and searched on 20 September 2026: no hits for copper, peptide, tripeptide or AHK. The ordinance refers to the EU annexes and, for labelling, to the glossary as published in OJ L 127 of 29 April 2022. https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2017/165/de
- European Commission. Commission Decision (EU) 2019/701 establishing the glossary of common ingredient names, the earlier version. Full text searched on 20 September 2026: entry 1267 is ALANINE/HISTIDINE/LYSINE POLYPEPTIDE COPPER HCL and entries 6336 to 6338 are COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-1, COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-34 and COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-34 HCL; no COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-3 entry. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019D0701
- openFDA, drug label API. Exact-phrase queries for "AHK-Cu", "AHK Cu", "alanyl histidyl lysine" and "copper tripeptide-3" on 20 September 2026, each returning nothing. https://api.fda.gov/drug/label.json
- DailyMed API v2. Query for "AHK" on 20 September 2026 returned no drug names; the control query for "copper tripeptide" returned several products containing Copper Tripeptide-1. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/
- US Food and Drug Administration. Bulk Drug Substances Used in Compounding Under Section 503A of the FD&C Act; page content current as of 14 May 2026, retrieved 20 September 2026. No copper peptide is named; the 2019 final rule added six substances, none of them related. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/bulk-drug-substances-used-compounding-under-section-503a-fdc-act
- World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2026 Prohibited List. Full text searched on 20 September 2026 for "AHK", "copper", "tripeptide", "alanyl" and "Ala-His-Lys": no hits, while "peptide" occurs ten times. The wording of class S0 was taken verbatim from the same document.
- Anlage zu Paragraph 2 Absatz 3 of the German Anti-Doping Act (BGBl. 2023 I Nr. 67). Full text searched on 20 September 2026 for "AHK", "Alanyl", "Kupfer" and "Tripeptid": no relevant hit. The closing sentence extends the listed groups to salts, esters, ethers, isomers, complexes and derivatives, none of which covers AHK-Cu.
- NCAA. Banned Substances 2026-27. PDF retrieved, converted and searched on 20 September 2026 for "AHK", "copper" and "tripeptide": no hits. The list states that it is "neither a complete nor exhaustive list". https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ssi/substance/2026-27/2026-27NCAA_BannedSubstances.pdf
- Papers on the separate peptide DAHK that appear in searches for AHK: Gum ET et al. (2004), Stroke 35(2):590-595, PMID 14726550; Bar-Or D, McDonald MC, Thiemermann C (2006), Critical Care Medicine 34(7):1955-1959, PMID 16691133; Diaz-Ruiz A et al. (2010), Neurochemical Research 35(2):343-347, PMID 19777346. All concern Asp-Ala-His-Lys, the front end of human serum albumin. Abstracts read 20 September 2026.
- Secondary ingredient databases consulted on 20 September 2026 for the glossary names in question: COSMILE Europe, haut.de and The Good Scents Company. For COPPER TRIPEPTIDE-34 all three give only a function and the definition "complex formed by copper and tripeptide-34". COSMILE Europe lists ALANINE/HISTIDINE/LYSINE POLYPEPTIDE COPPER HCL with the function "skin conditioning" and a definition built from alanine, lysine and a copper derivative, again without sequence, CAS or EC number. Secondary sources, not proof of identity. https://cosmileeurope.eu/inci/detail/574/alanine-histidine-lysine-polypeptide-copper-hcl/
- European Commission, CosIng database. Checked on 20 September 2026 and not machine-readable: the application is a single-page application whose API paths return the HTML shell. The glossary finding therefore rests on the legal texts, which govern labelling in any case. https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/
- Kapoor R, Shome D, Vadera S, Kumar V, Ram MS (2020). QR678 and QR678 Neo Hair Growth Formulations: A Cellular Toxicity and Animal Efficacy Study. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open 8(8):e2843. PMID 32983753. The mixture tested contained copper tripeptide 1, not AHK-Cu; abstract read 20 September 2026.
- Magrode N, Poomanee W, Kiattisin K, Ampasavate C (2024). Microemulsions and Nanoemulsions for Topical Delivery of Tripeptide-3: From Design of Experiment to Anti-Sebum Efficacy on Facial Skin. Pharmaceutics 16(4):554. PMID 38675215. The methods section names "Dipeptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate (Tripeptide-3) CAS No. 823202-99-9", a different substance; cited as evidence that the name is used inconsistently.
Cite this page
Every fact on this page was checked on 20 September 2026, and every register search behind the status table was run on that date. The evidence base is a single study from 2007, so this page is likely to change only if somebody finally runs a second one.
myPeptides Research & Editing. (2026). AHK-Cu: what the studies show, status and safety. Version 1.0, 20 September 2026. myPeptides Peptide Register. Retrieved from https://mypep.app/peptides/ahk-cu
How pages in this register are compiled and graded is described under methodology; the full register is at peptides.
| Version | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 20 September 2026 | Initial publication |