# The GHK hair-count trial

> The GHK hair study | Evermore Aesthetics — Evermore Aesthetics looks at a human GHK combination hair trial and the separate AHK-Cu follicle experiments.

**The hair file**

A combination study tests how much credit a familiar peptide name can carry.

## The combination tested

The [human trial followed 45 men with androgenetic alopecia over 6 months](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4969472/). Its topical formula combined 5-aminolevulinic acid with glycyl-histidyl-lysine peptide, GHK. The preparation was a combination, which matters to any account of the result.

The study reported hair-count increases of 52.6 at 100 mg/mL and 71.5 at 50 mg/mL, compared with 9.6 for placebo. Both active groups differed significantly from placebo. These concentrations belong to the study's combination preparation.

| Study group | Reported hair-count increase |
| --- | --- |
| Combination, 100 mg/mL | 52.6 |
| Combination, 50 mg/mL | 71.5 |
| Placebo | 9.6 |

The [report also recorded no adverse events in any group](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4969472/). I welcome that observation at its stated scale: these men, this preparation and this follow-up. I assign this result to the tested preparation; other GHK-containing formulations need their own trials.

## AHK-Cu follicle experiments

A separate [hair-follicle paper tested AHK-Cu, the alanyl analogue of GHK-Cu](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17703734/). It reported elongation of human hair follicles studied outside the body and proliferation of dermal papilla cells in culture. The same account describes reduced apoptosis, or cell death, in those culture experiments.

The near-match in the names is exactly the sort of small nuisance that rewards attention. AHK-Cu has its own experimental record. The human combination trial above has another. To my taste, letting each retain its identity makes the subject more substantial.

The follicle work offers a close look at a neighbouring molecule in laboratory settings. It supplies no measured hair-count outcome for GHK-Cu used alone in people. I would rather enjoy a precise result about an analogue than award it to a better-known name.

## Credit for the mixture

The human combination study gets a cautiously favourable verdict from me. The [hair-count gains belong to that preparation](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4969472/), and the design described here leaves the contribution of each ingredient unresolved.

A comparison separating those contributions would be a welcome addition. Until then, I give the mixture the credit. The result can be worthwhile without making its peptide component responsible for every part of it.

This is a useful edge to an archive concerned mainly with skin. Aesthetic interest readily crosses from a face to hair, but the material being measured changes. Here it was a hair count in men with androgenetic alopecia, alongside a distinct set of laboratory observations about an analogue. The [reading list](/references) gives both studies their own place.

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At Evermore Aesthetics I sift published research on skin and repair for an editorial archive, with no aesthetics business or medical advice behind the name.