# Elite Hair Restoration: the follicle files

> Elite Hair Restoration — the follicle files — Elite Hair Restoration examines copper peptides, isolated follicles and a GHK combination trial, with a selective eye for actual hair findings.

**Hair research cabinet**

A selective cabinet of copper-peptide research, from a follicle in culture to a human hair-count trial.

## A selective interest in hair

For me, “elite” would mean a hair claim that survives close inspection. I award shelf space to actual hair outcomes before entertaining a sweeping description of everything a molecule might do. Even then, the name on the experiment deserves a second look.

Take the copper peptides. The [experiment that lengthened isolated human hair follicles](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17703734/) tested AHK-Cu, a close relative of GHK-Cu. The [human hair-count trial](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4969472/) tested a combination of 5-aminolevulinic acid and GHK. The molecule names make a tidy verdict inconvenient.

The complication has left my enthusiasm intact and the broad claim looking shakier. There is enough here to investigate, and enough variation between the experiments to make a sweeping verdict feel premature.

## Copper peptides and isolated follicles

A follicle outside the body can still be the subject of a revealing experiment. In the [AHK-Cu study, human follicles elongated and cultured dermal papilla cells proliferated](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17703734/). That is unusually close to the thing a hair claim is about, while remaining an experiment on isolated tissue and cells.

The [copper-peptide file](/copper-peptides) follows that result, the cell-survival findings around it, and the separate collagen experiment that helps explain GHK-Cu’s appeal.

## The hair-count trial

The [combination study followed 45 men with androgenetic alopecia for 6 months](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4969472/) and reported greater hair-count increases than placebo. I put that result near the front of the cabinet because the investigators counted hair in people. The companion molecule stays on the card.

[Open the trial record](/hair-count-trial) for the reported changes, the preparation tested and the question of which ingredient deserves the credit.

## Delivery into skin

Then there is the unglamorous matter of arrival. A [human-skin experiment measured copper passing through skin layers and remaining in a dermal depot](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3016279/). A [later formulation review describes poor skin-barrier permeability as a central problem for GHK](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11830136/).

The [skin-delivery file](/skin-delivery) is where I give that practical obstacle its due. A promising ingredient and a successful preparation are different achievements; the transport question deserves as much attention as the ingredient name.

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At Elite Hair Restoration I weigh the published research on hair peptides in an editorial cabinet with no treatment business behind it, and none of these pages provides medical advice.