GHK-Cu (100 mg vial) dosage protocol

1. Draw 3 mL of bacteriostatic water with a sterile syringe.
2. Inject it slowly down the inside wall of the vial, not onto the powder, to avoid foaming.
3. Swirl or roll the vial gently until the powder dissolves. Do not shake it.
4. Label it with the date and the volume of water, and refrigerate at 2-8 °C (36-46 °F), away from light.

• Reconstitute: add 3 mL of bacteriostatic water for a 33.3 mg/mL solution.
• Amounts in the chart: 1 mg-2 mg each time, by subcutaneous injection, 5 times a week.
• Easy measuring: at 33.3 mg/mL, one unit (0.01 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe holds about 333 mcg.
• Storage: freeze-dried, keep it sealed, cold and away from light (frozen for long storage). Once mixed, refrigerate at 2-8 °C and avoid freezing and thawing.

GHK-Cu is a three-amino-acid peptide (glycine, histidine, lysine) bound to copper that occurs naturally in human plasma and is widely used as a cosmetic skincare ingredient. Its human evidence comes from small studies of products applied to the skin; injected GHK-Cu has no published human trials that we could find, and it is not FDA-approved as a drug.

• Primary calculation: 100 mg made up to 3 mL equals 33.3 mg/mL.
• Amounts shown: 1 mg-2 mg per administration. Reported in the research community. It has not been tested as a schedule in human trials.
• Route and frequency: subcutaneous injection, 5 times a week.
• Evidence ceiling: 3 of the 10 studies with a dose in our library were done in people.
• Regulatory status: Used in cosmetics. Not FDA-approved as a drug.

A 100 mg vial holds 100,000 mcg of GHK-Cu. Adding 3 mL gives 33.3 mg/mL, so one U-100 unit (0.01 mL) holds 333 mcg. To get the units for an amount, divide it by 333 mcg. The units are a volume mark on the syringe, not a measure of potency.

• 1 mg: 0.03 mL, or 3 U-100 units.
• 1.5 mg: 0.05 mL, or 4.5 U-100 units.
• 2 mg: 0.06 mL, or 6 U-100 units.

Vial coverage by mass: 100 full amounts of 1 mg, 66 full amounts of 1.5 mg, 50 full amounts of 2 mg per vial, before any handling loss.

If a different volume of water is used, every unit figure changes: recalculate with the calculator above.

All the human studies we found used GHK-Cu applied to the skin or to wounds. None tested injections:

• Diabetic foot ulcers (topical gel): in a multicentre, evaluator-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, plantar ulcers treated with Iamin gel closed more than those given the vehicle gel (median 98.5% vs 60.8% closure), with fewer infections (Mulder 1994).
• Venous leg ulcers (topical cream): in a randomised, evaluator-blinded trial with 86 patients, a 0.4% tripeptide copper cream did no better than placebo, while silver sulfadiazine cream did (Bishop 1992).
• After laser skin resurfacing (skincare products): in 13 patients, GHK-Cu products did not speed up the fading of redness or improve wrinkles on objective measures; patients using them did report higher satisfaction (Miller 2006).

Verdict: one older trial suggests a benefit in diabetic foot ulcers, but another trial in leg ulcers and a small cosmetic study found no objective benefit. Many cosmetic claims cite studies that we could not find in the medical literature. For injected GHK-Cu there are no human data at all.

Doses used in human studies

• Mulder GD 1994: Daily metered dose of gel; concentration not given in the abstract; see the paper (Topical gel (Iamin Gel))
• Bishop JB 1992: Tripeptide copper complex 0.4% cream; frequency not given in the abstract; see the paper (Topical cream)

Every study dose, including animal and cell studies, is in the GHK-Cu dose table.

Topical GHK-Cu has been used in cosmetics for decades, and the abstracts of the published skin and wound trials do not report safety problems, although the trials were small and not designed to detect rare effects (Mulder 1994; Miller 2006). Injected GHK-Cu is a different situation: we could not find any human safety data for it.

• Topical versus injected: results from creams and gels do not tell us what happens when GHK-Cu is injected. The dose reaching the body and the risks are different.
• Product quality: injectable GHK-Cu sold online is not checked by any regulator for identity, purity, dose or sterility.
• Copper: the peptide carries copper. We could not find studies on whether repeated injections affect copper levels in the body.
• Injection risks: any injected product that is not sterile can cause infection or abscesses.

• FDA: Used in cosmetics. Not FDA-approved as a drug.
• Evidence limits: reported use is not evidence that a schedule works or is safe. Animal doses do not convert to people, and research products are not made or checked for use in people.
• Status checked on: Oct 26, 2026.