Science › Clinical studies › Copper peptide (GHK-Cu)
Does a copper peptide serum reduce wrinkles?
A randomised, double-blind, split-face trial of a GHK-Cu serum in 40 women — read at source, appraised in full.
−24.1%
Wrinkle volume, 8 weeks
With the GHK-Cu serum, against −15.0% with the control serum. 20 women, measured by 3D imaging (Badenhorst et al., 2016).
55.8%
Greater reduction than the control
For wrinkle volume (p < 0.0001). The control serum contained neither GHK-Cu nor the nano-carrier that carried it.
31.6%
Greater reduction than a Matrixyl 3000 product
For wrinkle volume after 8 weeks: −25.8% with the GHK-Cu serum against −20.0% with the Matrixyl 3000 product, in the 19 women who compared the two (p = 0.0044) (Badenhorst et al., 2016).
Original research by Badenhorst T, Svirskis D, Merrilees M, Bolke L and Wu Z, published in Journal of Aging Science (2016).
Appraised by the Skingenetix research team. Medically reviewed by Dr Esther Bodde, Cosmetic & Medical Physician. Last reviewed 24 September 2026.
Copper peptide, or GHK-Cu, is a chain of three amino acids — glycine, histidine and lysine — bound to a copper ion. It occurs naturally in human blood, where it was first isolated in 1973, and its level falls with age: from about 200 ng/mL at 20 to 80 ng/mL by 60.
The Badenhorst 2016 trial is a randomised, double-blind, split-face study of a copper peptide (GHK-Cu) serum in 40 women aged 40 to 65. Over 8 weeks, wrinkle volume on the treated side fell 24.1%, against 15.0% on the plain serum base — a 55.8% greater reduction, measured by 3D imaging.
Our verdict: this is the strongest controlled human trial we have for copper peptide, and it is why GHK-Cu is in our range. But the base it was measured against lacked the nano-carrier as well as the peptide, and the paper never states a concentration — so the result belongs to the serum that was tested, not to ours.
En bref
Les neuf points à connaître avant de juger ce que cet essai a montré.
Randomised, double-blind, split-face, run at Dermatest GmbH, a cosmetic research institute.
40 women aged 40 to 65. All three products were well tolerated by 39 of the 40, and results are reported for those 39.
A serum containing GHK-Cu held in a lipid nano-carrier, twice a day, to the right side of the face.
Group 1 (19 women): a commercial product containing Matrixyl 3000, on the left side. Group 2 (20 women): the plain serum vehicle — no GHK-Cu and no nano-carrier — on the left side.
8 weeks, with measurements at 4 and 8 weeks.
PRIMOS 3D skin imaging of a single large wrinkle near the corner of the eye, over a 30 × 40 mm area.
Never stated. The paper does not report how much GHK-Cu the serum contained.
Funded by Snowberry New Zealand Ltd, which makes the serum, with a Callaghan Innovation grant. The statistical analysis was done independently at the University of Auckland.
A− — randomised and blinded, but small, maker-funded, and published in a journal with weaker peer review.
Ce que les mesures ont montré
Change from the start, after 8 weeks
Group 2 only (20 women): the GHK-Cu serum on the right side of the face, the plain serum vehicle on the left. PRIMOS 3D imaging of one wrinkle near the eye.
GHK-Cu serum (nano-carrier)Control serum: no GHK-Cu, no nano-carrier
Wrinkle volume
Wrinkle depth
| Measure | GHK-Cu serum (nano-carrier) | Control serum: no GHK-Cu, no nano-carrier |
|---|---|---|
| Wrinkle volume | −24.1% | −15.0% |
| Wrinkle depth | −20.3% | −15.3% |
Both sides improved. Against the plain serum vehicle the GHK-Cu side fell further — volume −24.1% against −15.0%, depth −20.3% against −15.3% — which the paper reports as a 55.8% greater reduction in volume (p < 0.0001) and 32.8% in depth (p = 0.0123). The vehicle carried neither the peptide nor the nano-carrier, so the gap covers both (Badenhorst et al., 2016).
Ce que les chercheurs ont fait
Forty women applied a GHK-Cu serum to the right side of the face twice a day for eight weeks. On the left side, half of them used a product containing Matrixyl 3000 and half used the plain serum base. Neither the women nor the investigators knew which product was which.
A separate arm of the same paper grew human skin cells with GHK-Cu and measured collagen and elastin production, which is where the paper’s laboratory findings come from.
Comment lire ce résultat
- What was compared. The GHK-Cu serum was tested against the same base without the peptide and without the lipid nano-carrier that delivered it, so the 55.8% belongs to the peptide and its delivery system together. The authors describe it as the first trial of GHK-Cu formulated into a nano-carrier.
- How it relates to our products. Our formulas state 2% GHK-Cu on the pack and do not use that nano-carrier, so the figure describes the serum that was tested rather than ours.
- Concentration. The paper does not report how much GHK-Cu the tested serum contained, so the result is not tied to a percentage.
- Which side was treated. The GHK-Cu serum always went on the right side of the face and the comparator on the left; the sides were not randomised.
- Against a Matrixyl 3000 product. The GHK-Cu side reduced wrinkle volume 31.6% more (p = 0.0044). The difference in depth was smaller and did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.0577).
- Scale and funding. One trial of 39 women at a cosmetic research institute, funded by Snowberry New Zealand Ltd, which makes the serum, and published in the Journal of Aging Science.
La place de cet essai parmi les preuves
In skincare, GHK-Cu is used to support the look of firmer, smoother skin. In laboratory work it raises the collagen, elastin and glycosaminoglycans that skin cells produce, and a review by the scientist who first isolated GHK sets out that role in detail (Pickart et al., 2015). Evidence in actual skin is thinner: a 2026 systematic review in Aesthetic Surgery Journal found GHK-Cu significantly reduced wrinkle volume and depth against controls, but drew on only two controlled trials among twenty studies, and said its findings were limited by methodological variability (Mokhtar et al., 2026).
This page appraises the stronger of those two trials. It is the reason GHK-Cu is in our range, and it is also the reason we do not claim more than an ingredient-level result. The full picture — every study we rely on, graded — is on the copper peptide evidence hub, which sits alongside our other ingredient research.
Questions fréquentes sur cet essai
Cet essai prouve-t-il que l'ingrédient fonctionne ?
It shows that a GHK-Cu serum reduced the volume of one wrinkle near the eye 55.8% more than a plain serum base in 20 women (p < 0.0001), and 31.6% more than a commercial Matrixyl 3000 product in 19 others (p = 0.0044), measured by 3D imaging over 8 weeks; against the Matrixyl product the depth difference was smaller (p = 0.0577). The plain base lacked the nano-carrier as well as the peptide, so the result belongs to the two together. It is one trial, funded by the serum's maker (Badenhorst et al., 2016); the other trials we rely on are on the evidence hub.
Quelle concentration l'étude a-t-elle utilisée ?
The paper never states one. That is why no claim on this site says a result was “clinically proven at 2%” — the trial cannot support a concentration claim, and our own products state 2% GHK-Cu on the pack independently of it.
L'essai est-il indépendant ?
Partly. It was run at Dermatest GmbH, a cosmetic research institute, and the statistics were done at the University of Auckland. But it was funded by Snowberry New Zealand Ltd, which makes the serum that was tested, and it was published in a journal whose peer review is weaker than the major dermatology titles. We grade it A− for those reasons.
Les produits Skingenetix reproduisent-ils ce résultat ?
No, and we do not claim they do. The serum tested here used a lipid nano-carrier that our formulas do not, and its concentration was never disclosed. We cite this trial as evidence for the ingredient, not as a result our products have repeated.
Avant d'essayer
Cet article résume une étude publiée. Il ne s'agit pas d'un avis médical, et vos propres résultats peuvent différer. Nos produits sont des cosmétiques. Comme pour toute nouveauté pour votre peau, appliquez d'abord une petite quantité sur l'intérieur de l'avant-bras pendant 24 heures, et n'introduisez qu'un seul nouveau produit à la fois. Arrêtez l'utilisation si vous remarquez des rougeurs, des démangeaisons, une sensation de brûlure ou un gonflement. Si l'irritation persiste, ou si vous avez une affection cutanée, êtes enceinte ou allaitez, ou utilisez des traitements cutanés sur ordonnance, demandez conseil à votre médecin ou à votre pharmacien avant de commencer.
What it means for our products
This is the strongest controlled human trial we have for copper peptide, and it is why GHK-Cu appears in our range at all. But the serum it tested is not ours: it used a lipid nano-carrier and never disclosed its concentration.
So we cite it as evidence for the ingredient, not as a result our products have reproduced. Our own copper peptide serum, day gel-cream and night cream each state 2% GHK-Cu on the pack, which this trial cannot confirm or contradict. The rest of the evidence for the ingredient is set out on the copper peptide research hub.
Reference
Badenhorst T, Svirskis D, Merrilees M, Bolke L, Wu Z. Effects of GHK-Cu on MMP and TIMP expression, collagen and elastin production, and facial wrinkle parameters. Journal of Aging Science 2016;4(3):166. doi:10.4172/2329-8847.1000166
Read at source: full PDF, 24 September 2026. Figures on this page come from Tables 2 and 3 and the Methods, not the abstract.