# PTD-DBM

Wnt-activating hair-regrowth peptide from mouse studies; DIY users report little.

- Page: https://peprank.xyz/peptides/ptd-dbm
- Category: Skin & hair (Research peptide)
- Also known as: CXXC5-Dishevelled competitor peptide; Dishevelled-binding-motif peptide with protein-transduction domain; 'Korean hair cure' (Kang-Yell Choi, Yonsei)
- Routes: Topical
- Safety tier: Strict: Avoid · Balanced: Avoid · Evidence only: Caution
- Risk axes (0 none to 3 severe): Seen harm 0, Mechanism 3, Data gap 3, Silent harm 3, Product 2
- Positive: 42% of 6 graded reports glowing or positive, shrunk toward the 49% all-report average by 8 reports' weight
- Rank: #51 of 61 research peptides
- Graded reports: 6 (Positive 2, Mixed 1, Nothing 3)
- Evidence: Animal only — mouse and cell work from one group (Choi, Yonsei); no published human trial of the peptide. Topical valproic acid alone has one small human RCT.
- Access: Grey market
- Onset: Users report 1-4 months without a clear effect; mouse effects within weeks
- Lasts: Unknown
- Cost per month: ≈ €36–90 (researchers' estimate)
- Updated: 2026-10-30

**Why Avoid under the strict bar:** It works by switching on Wnt/beta-catenin signalling in skin, and sustained beta-catenin activation causes hair-follicle tumours in mice and pilomatricoma in humans. It has no human safety data, and users pair it with valproic acid, a teratogen.

## What users report

Despite years of hype on r/tressless since the 2017 paper, first-hand reports are rare and weak. Of the handful found, half saw nothing over 1-4 months (often blamed on the peptide degrading in shipping or being used without valproic acid). One reported less shedding over a month of a pricey serum and one posted 'progress' photos with microneedling. The only 'transformation' used it inside a 20-drug stack with high-dose finasteride and dutasteride. Grey-market vials come undocumented ('none of the sellers list anything about the product'), and some vendors now sell it for injection. Felt nothing: 3 of 6 first-hand reports.

**Effects:** less shedding (one report); claimed new follicle growth with microneedling (one image post)

**Downsides:** most notice nothing; expensive (~$75-115 per 1-20 mg); fragile peptide, needs cold chain; undocumented grey-market vials

**Risks:** Mechanism is deliberate Wnt/beta-catenin activation: constitutive beta-catenin in skin produces hair-follicle tumours in mice (Gat 1998), and activating beta-catenin mutations cause human pilomatricomas; a theoretical tumour-promoting path with chronic scalp use; Typically paired with topical valproic acid (8.3% in the one trial); valproate is a known teratogen, a concern for anyone who could become pregnant; No human safety or pharmacokinetic data for the peptide; the transduction domain is designed to carry it into cells; Generic grey-market purity and endotoxin problems; some vendors now sell it for injection

**Caveat:** Like KY19382 (a small-molecule Wnt activator from the same lab), PTD-DBM rests on mouse data from a single group and has stalled since about 2019; peptide-seller SEO pages overstate it. The Wnt pathway is genuinely central to follicle regeneration, so the concern is not that it is inert but that the effect it is designed for is the same signal whose chronic activation is oncogenic.

**Typical use:** No established human dose; DIY users mix 0.3-0.5 mg/ml (the mouse concentration) applied after weekly microneedling.

**Getting it:** Research-peptide vendors (1-5 mg vials, sometimes premixed with a valproate substitute) and a few clinics; Choi's start-up has not brought it to market.

**Stacked with:** Topical valproic acid (the paper's synergy partner; carries its own teratogenicity concern); Microneedling (used to mimic the dissolving-microneedle delivery in Choi's work)

## Risk profile

- **Seen harm 0/3:** No human study and only a handful of first-hand reports, none serious; the zero reflects negligible exposure.
- **Mechanism 3/3:** Shown in mouse skin to switch on Wnt/beta-catenin signalling, and sustained beta-catenin activation causes hair-follicle tumours in mice and, through activating mutations, pilomatricoma in humans; users also pair it with valproic acid, a teratogen.
- **Data gap 3/3:** No human safety or pharmacokinetic data for the peptide, whose transduction domain is built to carry it into cells; the only human trial tested the companion valproic acid.
- **Silent harm 3/3:** Follicular tumour promotion from chronic scalp use would develop silently over months to years.
- **Product 2/3:** Grey-market research vials mixed at home and applied to the scalp, sometimes premixed with a valproate substitute; some vendors now sell it for injection.
- **Never if:** Pregnancy or any chance of pregnancy (valproate co-treatment); Active cancer or a history of cancer; History of skin or adnexal tumours

## Top reports

- Positive, skin-hair: “I used a serum made online and experienced reduced hairloss for the month I used it for.” — [r/tressless](https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/1tlky5m/any_experiences_with_ptddbm/)
- Positive, skin-hair: “Micro needling and ptd-dbm progress” — [r/tressless](https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/upi57s/micro_needling_and_ptddbm_progress/)
- Mixed, skin-hair: “kx826, ky19382, cb0301, sm04454, ptd-dbm, topical valproic acid, ru58841, stemoxydine, way-316606, tdm-105795, cd83, jw0061” — [r/tressless](https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/1vas9me/hair_loss_transformation_1418_yrs_old/p0xh5fa/)
- Nothing, skin-hair: “topical PTD/DBM Valproic Acid combo, and Ghk-Cu with Zn-Thymulin Was super expensive and I dont remember if they worked or not.” — [r/tressless](https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/1hocdph/thoughts_on_a_previous_stack_m/)
- Nothing, skin-hair: “I didn’t really see an effect because it was delivered on a pretty warm day and I believe the compound needs to be delivered cold in a stable manner.” — [r/tressless](https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/sqrht7/im_starting_ptddbm_and_valproic_acid_today_anyone/hwnuc76/)

## Studies

- [Lee et al., Targeting of CXXC5 by a competing peptide stimulates hair regrowth and wound-induced hair neogenesis (J Invest Dermatol 2017)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28595998/) (animal, 2017): CXXC5 was raised in human balding scalp; a peptide blocking CXXC5-Dishevelled binding activated Wnt/beta-catenin and accelerated hair regrowth and wound-induced follicle neogenesis in mice, more so with valproic acid.
- [Jo et al., Topical valproic acid increases the hair count in male patients with AGA: randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled feasibility study (J Dermatol 2014)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24533507/) (rct, n=40, 2014): 8.3% sodium valproate spray for 24 weeks raised total hair count vs placebo (p=0.047) in the 27 completers; mostly mild adverse events. Tests the companion drug, not PTD-DBM.
- [Gat et al., De novo hair follicle morphogenesis and hair tumors in mice expressing a truncated beta-catenin in skin (Cell 1998)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9845363/) (animal, 1998): Stabilised beta-catenin in mouse skin induced new hair follicles and, with time, hair-follicle tumours: the same pathway PTD-DBM switches on.

## Sources

- [Lee et al. 2017, CXXC5 competitor peptide (J Invest Dermatol, PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28595998/)
- [Gat et al. 1998, beta-catenin and hair-follicle tumours (Cell, PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9845363/)
- [r/tressless: PTD-DBM update, Q&A with Dr. Kang-Yell Choi (2021)](https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/pwnika/september_2021_update_from_dr_kangyell_choi/)