PTD-DBM_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as PTD DBM, protein transduction domain Dvl-binding motif, CXXC5 inhibitor peptide
A hair-regrowth peptide from a single Korean lab, tested only in mice.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is PTD-DBM?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
It is meant to take the handbrake off hair growth. Everything published about it is from mice, and almost all of it comes from the one laboratory that invented it.
PTD-DBM is a peptide designed to switch a hair-growth signal back on. Your body uses a pathway called Wnt to decide when follicles grow, and a protein called CXXC5 acts as a brake on it. PTD-DBM gets in the way of that brake.
What it's used for
Applied to the scalp for hair loss, based on mouse studies.
How does PTD-DBM work?
What it does in the body, and where.Hair follicles cycle between growing and resting. A signal called Wnt decides which. This peptide targets the thing holding that signal down.
- 01CXXC5 acts as a brake on hair growthIt shows up in higher amounts in shrinking follicles, and mice bred without it regrow hair faster.
- 02It works by grabbing a protein called DishevelledDishevelled is the relay in the Wnt signal. When CXXC5 holds onto it, the message does not get through.
- 03PTD-DBM gets in between themIt is built to bind the same spot, so CXXC5 cannot. The Wnt signal comes back on and follicles move into a growing phase.
- 04Mouse skin is not human skinMouse follicles cycle together in waves and human ones do not, which is why hair treatments often look better in mice than they turn out to be in people.
Where this compound is thought to act.
What else is it used for?
Each use below carries its own evidence level. Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
- Hair regrowth in mice, including new follicles forming in bare skinEarly research
- Wound healing, from the same laboratory and the same pathwayEarly research
- Hair loss in people, which has never been testednone
The published record
Papers and trials about PTD-DBM
3 papers tagged human · 2 not reviews or lab · 0 clinical trial publications
Furthest stage reached: No clinical trial on record
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count.
At a glance
Four things to know about PTD-DBM
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.Topical, per product, daily. Applied daily, with no established course length Community practice
Hair cycles run in months, so anything is judged over a long stretch. No study has tested how long to keep going or what happens when you stop.
Nothing publishedNo figure
Nothing published.
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
What does it cost?
Typical dose and cost, in plain numbers.PTD-DBM is not injected
It is taken on the skin (topical). Applied to the scalp as part of a topical product. No dose has been tested in a person, so there is no range to check against.
PTD-DBM starts at $86.00 across 5 vendors, typically $17.20 – $17.80 per mg.
5 listings, last read Oct 11, 2026. Shipping and card fees are not included.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Room temperature, out of light. Cap it tight after each use.
PTD-DBM ships as a cream, gel, or serum. Keep it at room temperature away from sun and heat unless the label says otherwise. Refrigerating an emulsion can split the texture. Watch for color, smell, or separation changes and stop using it if any appear.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.The routine passed around online is PTD-DBM plus valproic acid plus microneedling. Two things to know before copying it. Valproic acid is a prescription anti-seizure medicine, and it can cause serious birth defects, so anyone who is pregnant or could become pregnant should not handle it. And that three-part routine comes from mouse experiments, not from a human protocol. Nobody has tested it on people and written down what happened.
Solubility, computed: 60% charged residues, 16% hydrophobic. Water usually sufficient.
A first-pass rule from peptide manufacturers' guidance. It does not account for disulfide bridges, salt form or how the powder was dried, and it predicts what should be easy rather than what will happen in your vial.
Who should avoid it
- Pregnancy or trying to conceive, mainly because of the valproic acid usually paired with it
- Broken or inflamed scalp skin
- Anyone expecting results shown in people, since none have been published
Stop and get help
- A spreading rash or burning on the scalp
- Signs of infection after microneedling, such as heat, swelling, or pus
Common effects
- Scalp irritation, mostly from the microneedling and the valproic acid rather than the peptide
- Beyond that, unknown. No human study has recorded side effects for this peptide
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is PTD-DBM approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.No. PTD-DBM is not approved for any use, anywhere. It is sold labeled for laboratory research only, and there is no legal route to buy it for human use.
- Approval statusResearch only
- RouteOn the skin (topical)
- Checked14 August 2026
- DoseFrom community reports. No regulator or trial established this dose.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
What has happened recently
Not approved anywhere and never tested in a human trial. Worth knowing where the research comes from: nearly all of it is from Professor Kang-Yell Choi's group at Yonsei University in South Korea, and that group founded a company to commercialise the approach. That does not make the science wrong. It does mean no independent laboratory has repeated the result, which is the usual check on a finding this promising.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like PTD-DBM?
Others in Skin and cosmetic, side by side.If you're weighing PTD-DBM, it's worth reading SYN-AKE, Decapeptide-12 (Lumixyl), and Leuphasyl (Pentapeptide-18) in the same class.
A hair-regrowth peptide from a single Korean lab, tested only in mice.
- Dose
- Topical, per product
- How often
- Daily
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- Dose
- Serum, per product
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- Dose
- Serum, per product
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Guides for this compound
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- Why Does My Peptide Injection Itch or Welt
Injection-site irritation, a histamine reaction, or a true allergy, and how to tell them apart.
- How to Read a Peptide COA
What the purity number does and does not tell you, and how to spot an edited report.
- How to Vet a Peptide Vendor
Independent COAs, HPLC purity, and the red flags that mean walk away.
Sources
- Journal of Investigative Dermatology, targeting CXXC5 with a competing peptide(2017)Mouse study. The peptide stimulated hair regrowth and new follicle formation, and the effect was larger when combined with valproic acid.
- Journal of Experimental Medicine, CXXC5 negatively regulates wound healing(2015)Established the CXXC5 and Dishevelled interaction and showed the peptide disrupting it in cells and in mice.
Beyond these, 4 records are indexed. Browse the records