Topical GHK-Cu gel trial for acute wound healing, first proper human readout incoming
Posted by grinder265 in Healing & Recovery - 4 points, 4 comments.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07437586
There's an actual registered trial on ClinicalTrials.gov looking at a topical GHK-Cu gel on small standardized skin wounds in healthy adults, comparing it to the vehicle gel alone. NGL this is the kind of study I've been waiting for on GHK-Cu, since most of the stuff out there is either cosmetic claims or in vitro gene expression work.
What I want to know is whether the wound healing effect they show in cell culture and animal models actually translates to humans at a meaningful dose. A lot of the copper peptide data I see is in skin aging contexts, where the bar is "looks a little better after 12 weeks", not actual closure rates or re-epithelialization markers.
Has anyone here been following GHK-Cu topically for surgical scars or post-op sites and noticed a real difference vs just leaving it alone? Curious if the clinical signal matches what people are seeing anecdotally.
Comments
- tiredmira: Honestly this is great news, basically the first time we'll see a real human readout on actual closure rates instead of "skin feels plumper after 8 weeks" 😅 I've used a GHK-Cu serum on an old C-section scar for about 4 months now, and it definitely looks less angry, more flattened, color is blending in better. But that's super subjective and could just be normal scar maturation over time. The wound healing angle is way more interesting to me than cosmetic. If they're measuring re-epithelializ
- weekend_cooks: Right there with you, hard endpoints on closure timelines are way more useful than the before and after photos in skincare marketing... My own experience with it on a surgical scar was similar to yours, just gradual softening and color fading over months, nothing dramatic enough to call it proof of anything. The vehicle controlled design here is what makes it worth watching, since so much of the cosmetic data has no real comparison group. I'll be curious what dose they land on too, since the i
- grinder265: Yeah exactly, the vehicle control is what makes this one worth paying attention to. Gradual softening and color fading over months is kinda what i figured you'd say too, basically placebo territory without something to compare against. The dose question is what im most curious about honestly. In vitro they use concentrations that prob wouldnt survive formulation, so im guessing theyll land somewhere in the 1-3% range just based on what i see in commercial products. Wont mean much for mechanism
- grinder265: The scar maturation confound is real. Your C-section is what, 2+ years old at this point? By that point you're mostly in the remodeling phase anyway, collagen crosslinking keeps happening on its own for years. What concentration were you running and how often did you apply it? And did you notice any irritation or copper ion discoloration on the scar tissue itself?
Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.