Important: Evidence is a single organ-culture study from 2007 without replication. Related GHK-Cu data cannot be assumed to transfer to AHK-Cu.
Overview
AHK-Cu is a copper complex of the tripeptide alanyl-histidyl-lysine — a smaller cousin of GHK-Cu that swaps the N-terminal glycine for alanine. It is marketed almost exclusively for hair, and the reason is a single ex-vivo/in-vitro study: in 2007 a Seoul National University group reported that the AHK-Cu complex lengthened human hair follicles in organ culture and increased dermal papilla cell proliferation at picomolar-to-nanomolar concentrations, with higher VEGF, lower TGF-β1 and a shift in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio.
That is close to the whole peer-reviewed record. Unlike GHK-Cu, which has decades of wound-healing and gene-expression literature, AHK-Cu has no in-vivo animal efficacy study and no human clinical trial in the indexed literature. Purgo Labs sells it as a 100mg research vial and also uses it in a copper-peptide shampoo.
Mechanism of Action
The proposed mechanism follows the copper-peptide template established for GHK-Cu: the tripeptide carries Cu(II) into cells and the extracellular matrix, where copper acts as a cofactor for lysyl oxidase and antioxidant enzymes and modulates growth-factor expression. In the 2007 hair study, AHK-Cu treatment of cultured human dermal papilla cells increased proliferation, up-regulated VEGF (a driver of follicular angiogenesis and anagen maintenance), suppressed TGF-β1 (a catagen-inducing signal) and raised the Bcl-2/Bax ratio (anti-apoptotic), and human scalp follicles in organ culture grew longer over 10 days. Whether these effects reflect the peptide, the copper, or the complex specifically has not been dissected, and no receptor for AHK has been identified.
Research Evidence
- AHK-Cu stimulated elongation of human hair follicles in organ culture and increased dermal papilla cell proliferation at 10⁻¹²–10⁻⁹ M (Pyo et al., Arch Pharm Res 2007; PMID 17703734)
- In the same study, AHK-Cu increased VEGF, decreased TGF-β1 and raised the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in dermal papilla cells — a pro-anagen, anti-apoptotic signature
- AHK-Cu shares its copper-coordination chemistry with GHK-Cu, whose wound-healing and gene-expression literature is far larger (Pickart & Margolina, Int J Mol Sci 2018)
- No in-vivo animal efficacy study and no human clinical trial of AHK-Cu appear in the indexed literature as of September 2026
Bottom line: One ex-vivo study, no animal efficacy study, no human trial. Most online claims about AHK-Cu borrow GHK-Cu's evidence. Research-only.
Evidence & References
The full compound profile lists the evidence level, the studies behind each claim with PubMed links, and the adverse-effect record. Compound Review does not publish dosing protocols.
Sourcing & Quality
AHK-Cu is available from Purgo Labs with third-party COA verification and research-grade purity standards. View AHK-Cu at Purgo Labs.