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SKIN & AESTHETICS RESEARCH / REFS

References

Every source cited across the GHK-Cu and Melanotan II pages and the comparison, gathered in one place.

References

The list below aggregates the cited literature across both peptides on this desk — GHK-Cu and Melanotan II. Each entry gives authors, title, journal and year, with a DOI and a PubMed or PubMed Central link where available. A citation is listed once and referred to by its number throughout the site. Case reports are cited as such, not as controlled trials.

  1. Mortazavi SM, Mohammadi Vadoud SA, Moghimi HR. Topically applied GHK as an anti-wrinkle peptide: Advantages, problems and prospective. BioImpacts. 2025;15:30071.
  2. Pickart L, Margolina A. Regenerative and Protective Actions of the GHK-Cu Peptide in the Light of the New Gene Data. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2018;19(7):1987.
  3. Lee WJ, Sim HB, Jang YH, Lee SJ, Kim DW, Yim SH. Efficacy of a Complex of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid and Glycyl-Histidyl-Lysine Peptide on Hair Growth. Annals of Dermatology. 2016;28(4):438-443.
  4. Pickart L, Vasquez-Soltero JM, Margolina A. GHK Peptide as a Natural Modulator of Multiple Cellular Pathways in Skin Regeneration. BioMed Research International. 2015;2015:648108.
  5. Hostynek JJ, Dreher F, Maibach HI. Human skin penetration of a copper tripeptide in vitro as a function of skin layer. Inflammation Research. 2011;60(1):79-86.
  6. Pickart L. The human tri-peptide GHK and tissue remodeling. Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition. 2008;19(8):969-988.
  7. Maquart FX, Pickart L, Laurent M, Gillery P, Monboisse JC, Borel JP. Stimulation of collagen synthesis in fibroblast cultures by the tripeptide-copper complex glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine-Cu2+. FEBS Letters. 1988;238(2):343-346.
  8. Bonchev A. Changes in Oral Mucosa Associated with Melanotan II Injections: A Case Report. Life (Basel). 2026;16(2):265.
  9. Eliason NL, Martin L, Low MJ, Sharpe AL. Melanocortin receptor agonist melanotan-II microinjected in the nucleus accumbens decreases appetitive and consumptive responding for food. Neuropeptides. 2022;96:102289.
  10. Peters B, Hadimeri H, Wahlberg R, Afghahi H. Melanotan II: a possible cause of renal infarction: review of the literature and case report. CEN Case Rep. 2020;9(2):159-161.
  11. Hadley ME, Dorr RT. Melanocortin peptide therapeutics: historical milestones, clinical studies and commercialization. Peptides. 2006;27(4):921-930.
  12. Wessells H, Fuciarelli K, Hansen J, Hadley ME, Hruby VJ, Dorr R, Levine N. Synthetic melanotropic peptide initiates erections in men with psychogenic erectile dysfunction: double-blind, placebo controlled crossover study. J Urol. 1998;160(2):389-393.