GHK-Cu Reconstitution Calculator
GHK-Cu has genuine randomised human evidence and no published human dose for the form that comes in a vial. Every trial in the record behind this page is topical, a gel, a cream or a serum, with the amount given as a concentration in a vehicle rather than as a mass per administration. No trial of subcutaneous or intradermal GHK-Cu on its own has been published, at any dose, in any population. There is no human pharmacokinetic data for injected GHK-Cu and no measurement of the systemic copper load it produces. A concentration in a cream cannot be converted into an injected figure, and treating a familiar cosmetic percentage as a dosing precedent is the specific error this entry exists to prevent. What the record does hold is a mechanism worked out in cell and animal systems, a handful of small randomised topical trials that disagree with each other, and one recruiting Phase 2 trial of a topical gel.
Curated by Dosavy from published literature and regulator labels. Published 11 September 2026, last reviewed 11 September 2026. No clinician reviews this page.
No established human dose
No human trial has established a dose for GHK-Cu. There is no evidence-based dose to give, and this page does not give one.
The calculator below converts a vial size and a mixing volume into a concentration. That is arithmetic about the vial, not a recommendation about what to inject.
Enter a target dose above to see the draw.
What the evidence says
There is genuine randomised human evidence for GHK-Cu, and all of it is topical. That is the point: what is sold for injection is a different route at a different dose, and nothing published supports it.
What exists. A multicentre, randomised, evaluator-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of GHK-Cu gel ('lamin Gel') in diabetic neuropathic plantar ulcers reported a three-fold faster rate of closure and fewer infections than vehicle (PMID 17147644). But the method is described only as 'daily application of a metered dose', with no mass stated. A larger randomised evaluator-blinded trial in 86 patients with venous stasis ulcers found 0.4% GHK-Cu cream no better than inert vehicle placebo (PMID 1495150). A randomised study in 13 patients after CO2 laser resurfacing found no objective difference in erythema, wrinkles or skin quality, only higher self-reported satisfaction (PMID 16847171). Cosmetic and scalp studies test copper tripeptide-1 as one component of a multi-ingredient serum (PMIDs 39449909, 27064823, 33397562, 20725584).
Why none of that yields a range. Every one of these doses is a concentration in a vehicle (0.1% to 3%), not a mass per administration, and there is no valid way to convert a percentage in a cream into an injected milligram figure. The unit is not even expressible in this schema. The one injection study in the corpus (PMID 29482481) gave intradermal scalp injections of a formulation containing copper tripeptide-1 alongside VEGF, bFGF, IGF, KGF and thymosin β4, so it can attribute neither a dose nor an effect to GHK-Cu on its own.
What is missing. No trial of subcutaneous or intradermal GHK-Cu alone has been published, at any dose, in any population. There is no human pharmacokinetics for injected GHK-Cu and no measurement of the systemic copper load it produces. That is a question that simply does not arise for a topical product and is unanswered for an injected one. Skin-permeation work notes GHK-Cu is hydrophilic and penetrates the stratum corneum poorly (PMID 39795193), which is why liposomal delivery is being investigated; that is a formulation problem, not a dosing precedent.
A Phase 2 trial of a 0.1% w/w topical gel (NCT07437586, approx. 0.5 g applied once daily for 14 days) is recruiting. evidence_level is limited_human (small randomised topical trials with mixed results) rather than rct, because the trials are small, contradictory, and none addresses the route this compound is actually sold for.
GHK-Cu at a glance
- Category
- Healing peptide
- Half-life
- Not established
- Routes
- Topical, Subcutaneous
- Regulatory status
- Research use only
- Also sold as
- GHK-copper, copper tripeptide-1, glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine copper, GHK, lamin gel
Mechanism
GHK is a naturally occurring human tripeptide (glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine) with an affinity for Cu(2+) similar to the copper transport site on albumin; the complex it forms with copper is GHK-Cu. In cell and animal systems it acts as a chemoattractant for macrophages, mast cells and capillary cells, increases synthesis of collagen, elastin, glycosaminoglycans, VEGF, FGF-2 and nerve growth factor, raises fibroblast and keratinocyte proliferation, suppresses free radicals and TGF-β1/TNF-α, and drives angiogenesis and nerve outgrowth. Gene-expression work attributes its breadth to regulation of many pathways at once rather than one receptor. Plasma GHK falls with age, which is the usual rationale given for supplementing it. Copper delivery is part of the mechanism, not incidental. This is exactly why route matters for this compound.
Reconstitution
Topical products are supplied ready to use and require no reconstitution. Powder sold for injection is reconstituted with bacteriostatic water; note that concentration for topical use is conventionally quoted as a percentage (1-3%) while injectable listings quote milligrams, and the two are not convertible: a '2% serum' and a '2 mg dose' have no relationship to each other.
Storage
Topical serums and gels are stored at room temperature away from light and heat; the copper complex is coloured and light-sensitive, and discoloration or precipitation indicates the complex has degraded. Injectable material is sold as a lyophilised powder with no approved product and therefore no validated shelf life.
Frequency in practice
Topically, cosmetic and wound formulations are applied once or twice daily as a 0.1-3% cream, gel or serum: the only pattern with human trial support. Injectable listings describe 1-2 mg subcutaneously once daily in 4-8 week cycles, which has no trial behind it.
Regulatory
GHK-Cu (INCI name copper tripeptide-1) is widely sold as a cosmetic ingredient, and cosmetics are regulated on safety and labelling rather than on proven efficacy. A cosmetic listing is not a drug approval. No GHK-Cu drug product is FDA-approved for any indication, and no injectable GHK-Cu product is approved anywhere. A Phase 2 trial of a 0.1% w/w topical GHK-Cu gel for acute skin wounds (NCT07437586) is recruiting and has not reported. Injectable GHK-Cu is supplied research-use-only by peptide vendors.
What to know before anything else
The human evidence is topical only. No published trial supports injecting GHK-Cu, and the 1-2 mg daily subcutaneous figure vendors list has no clinical basis at all. It was not derived from the topical studies and cannot be.
Injecting GHK-Cu delivers copper systemically; topical application largely does not. No human study has measured circulating copper, accumulation over a multi-week cycle, or interaction with dietary and supplemental copper. Anyone with Wilson's disease or another copper-handling disorder, or with hepatic impairment, should not use injectable copper peptides.
The topical results are mixed, not uniformly positive. The largest randomised trial (86 patients, venous stasis ulcers) found 0.4% GHK-Cu cream no better than an inert vehicle, and a randomised post-CO2-laser study found no objective improvement in erythema or wrinkles, only higher patient-reported satisfaction.
A cosmetic concentration says nothing about an injectable dose. Percentages (1-3% in a serum) and milligrams (1-2 mg in a syringe) are not interchangeable units, and treating a familiar cosmetic number as a dosing precedent is the specific error this entry exists to prevent.
Most published cosmetic studies test copper tripeptide-1 as one ingredient in a multi-component formulation, so an effect reported for the product is not an effect attributed to GHK-Cu.
Injectable material is research-grade: sterility, copper content and the integrity of the peptide-copper complex are unverified.
GHK-Cu questions
Is there a published dose for injecting GHK-Cu?
No. Nothing published supports injecting GHK-Cu, in any population, at any dose. The figure that circulates for subcutaneous use comes from peptide vendors and protocol sites rather than from a trial, and it was not derived from the topical studies because it cannot be. The one injection study in this record gave intradermal scalp injections of a formulation that also contained VEGF, bFGF, IGF, KGF and thymosin beta-4, so it can attribute neither a dose nor an effect to GHK-Cu on its own.
Why can a topical percentage not be converted into an injected dose?
Because they are different quantities. A percentage describes how much peptide sits in a vehicle spread across skin; a milligram figure describes a mass delivered into tissue. There is no valid conversion between the two, and the topical unit is not even expressible in this library's schema. Skin-permeation work also notes that GHK-Cu is hydrophilic and penetrates the stratum corneum poorly, which is why liposomal delivery is being investigated. That is a formulation problem, not a dosing precedent.
Does GHK-Cu work on wrinkles and skin quality?
The topical results are mixed, not uniformly positive. A randomised study in 13 patients after CO2 laser resurfacing found no objective difference in erythema, wrinkles or skin quality, only higher patient-reported satisfaction. Most published cosmetic studies test copper tripeptide-1 as one ingredient in a multi-component formulation, so an effect reported for the product is not an effect attributable to GHK-Cu.
Does GHK-Cu help wounds heal?
This is where the strongest result sits, and it is still topical. A multicentre, randomised, evaluator-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of a GHK-Cu gel in diabetic neuropathic plantar ulcers reported closure roughly three times faster than vehicle with fewer infections, but its method is described only as daily application of a metered dose and states no mass. A larger randomised evaluator-blinded trial in 86 patients with venous stasis ulcers found GHK-Cu cream no better than an inert vehicle placebo. A Phase 2 trial of a topical gel for acute skin wounds (NCT07437586) is recruiting and has not reported.
What about GHK-Cu for hair growth?
This record holds no trial of GHK-Cu alone for hair. Scalp and cosmetic studies test copper tripeptide-1 as one component of a multi-ingredient serum, and the intradermal scalp study combined it with five other growth factors, so neither design can isolate what GHK-Cu contributed. Plasma GHK does fall with age, which is the usual rationale offered for supplementing it, and a rationale is not a result.
Is injecting a copper peptide safe?
Nobody has measured it. Copper delivery is part of the mechanism rather than incidental, and injecting GHK-Cu delivers copper systemically where topical application largely does not. No human study has measured circulating copper after injection, accumulation over a multi-week cycle, or interaction with dietary and supplemental copper. Anyone with Wilson's disease or another copper-handling disorder, or with hepatic impairment, should not use injectable copper peptides. Material sold for injection is research-grade as well, so sterility, copper content and the integrity of the peptide-copper complex are unverified. This record also holds no half-life for GHK-Cu and no reviewed interactions, which is an absence of assessment rather than a clean bill.
Is GHK-Cu approved or regulated?
It is sold widely as a cosmetic ingredient under the INCI name copper tripeptide-1, and cosmetics are regulated on safety and labelling rather than on proven efficacy, so a cosmetic listing is not a drug approval. No GHK-Cu drug product is FDA-approved for any indication, and no injectable GHK-Cu product is approved anywhere. Material sold for injection is supplied research-use-only by peptide vendors.
The rest of the math
- Reconstitution calculatorThe full version of the tool above, with syringe barrel sizes and IU conversion.
- Vial longevityHow many doses a vial holds and the date it runs out.
- Cost per doseVial price against doses drawn, so two vial sizes can be compared honestly.
- Half-life and decayFirst-order clearance, time to steady state, and what remains at a given hour.
Same class as GHK-Cu
You worked out the draw. Now log this dose.
A calculator answers once and forgets. Dosavy keeps the concentration you mixed, the doses you actually took, and a reminder for the next one, with the same evidence labels you see on this page.