GHK Cosmetic Peptides for Anti Aging and Eliminating Wrinkles

Introduction:

GHK (glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine) is present in human plasma, saliva, and urine but declines with age. It is proposed that GHK functions as a complex with copper 2+ which accelerates wound healing and skin repair. GHK stimulates both synthesis and breakdown of collagen and glycosaminoglycans and modulates the activity of both metalloproteinases and their inhibitors. It stimulates collagen, dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, and the small proteoglycan, decorin. It also restores replicative vitality to fibroblasts after radiation therapy. The molecule attracts immune and endothelial cells to the site of an injury. It accelerates wound-healing of the skin, hair follicles, gastrointestinal tract, boney tissue, and foot pads of dogs. It also induces systemic wound healing in rats, mice, and pigs. In cosmetic products, it has been found to tighten loose skin and improve elasticity, skin density, and firmness, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, reduce photodamage, and hyperpigmentation, and increase keratinocyte proliferation. GHK has been proposed as a therapeutic agent for skin inflammation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and metastatic colon cancer. It is capable of up- and downregulating at least 4,000 human genes, essentially resetting DNA to a healthier state. The present review revisits GHK’s role in skin regeneration in the light of recent discoveries.

GHK is a tripeptide with the amino acid sequence glycyl-histidyl-lysine. It naturally occurs in human plasma, saliva, and urine. In plasma the level of GHK is about 200 ng/mL (10−7 M) at age 20, but declines to 80 ng/mL by age 60. This decline in the GHK-level coincides with the noticeable decrease in regenerative capacity of an organism. The human peptide GHK-Cu was isolated in 1973 by Pickart as an activity in human albumin that caused old human liver tissue to synthesize proteins like younger tissue. Subsequent studies established this activity as a tripeptide with an amino acid sequence glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine with a strong affinity for copper that readily formed the complex GHK-Cu. It was proposed that GHK-Cu functions as a complex with copper 2+ . Pickart et al. have established that GHK-Cu accelerates wound healing and contraction, improves the take of transplanted skin, and also possesses antiinflammatory actions .

Subsequent studies directed by Borel and Maquart et al. demonstrated that GHK-Cu at a very low, nontoxic concentration (1–10 nanomolar) stimulated both synthesis and breakdown of collagen and glycosaminoglycans [6]. GHK modulated an activity of both metalloproteinases and their inhibitors (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2), acting as a main regulator of wound healing and skin remodeling processes. GHK-Cu stimulated collagen, dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, and a small proteoglycan, decorin. In 2001 McCormack et al. established that GHK-Cu restored replicative vitality to fibroblasts from patients after anticancer radiation therapy that damages cellular DNA. GHK was also found to attract immune and endothelial cells to the site of an injury.

Wound healing activity of GHK-Cu was confirmed in animal experiments. GHK-Cu accelerated wound healing and increased blood vessel formation and the level of antioxidant enzymes in rabbits. This molecule also induced systemic wound healing in rats, mice, and pigs. It improved the healing of diabetic and ischemic wounds in rats, decreasing the level of TNF-alpha and stimulating collagen synthesis. It also facilitated healing of pad wounds in dogs. Such well-documented skin regeneration activity prompted widespread use of GHK in antiaging cosmetic products.

Recently, GHK-Cu has been gaining publicity as a prospective therapeutic agent for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), skin inflammation, and metastatic colon cancer [19–21]. It has been established that it is capable of up- and downregulating at least 4,000 genes in the human genome, essentially resetting DNA back to a healthier state. These studies shed new light on the skin remodeling activity of the GHK-Cu peptide.

The present review revisits GHK-Cu’s role in skin regeneration in the light of recent discoveries.

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