Melanotan 2 10 mg

Melanotan 2 10 mg research-grade lyophilized peptide powder in a glass vial. Also known as MT-II, this synthetic cyclic peptide analog of α-Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone (α-MSH) is studied in melanocortin receptor signaling, melanogenesis/pigmentation models, appetite and sexual-function research pathways.

Research Overview

Melanotan 2 (MT-II) is a synthetic melanocortin receptor agonist derived from α-MSH. In experimental systems it is used to probe MC1/MC3/MC4/MC5 signaling, melanogenesis and pigmentation pathways, and centrally mediated appetite and sexual-function research models.

Primary Research Areas

• Melanocortin receptor signaling: non-selective MC1/MC3/MC4/MC5 agonist used to map downstream melanocortin pathways in CNS and peripheral tissues [8].
• Melanogenesis & pigmentation models: laboratory studies of α-MSH-like effects on melanocytes, melanin production and photobiology-related research [7].
• Appetite & energy-balance research: experimental frameworks exploring hypothalamic melanocortin signaling in feeding behaviour and caloric-intake models [8].
• Sexual function & neuroendocrine pathways: CNS models assessing melanocortin-mediated effects on sexual behaviour and neuroendocrine responses [7].
• Neuroprotective & stress-response signaling: research into melanocortin-linked cytoprotective and anti-apoptotic mechanisms under cellular stress.
• New and changing moles: a 40-year-old man with a previous melanoma and many dysplastic moles injected synthetic α-MSH and grew crops of new pigmented moles, several atypical, while his existing moles darkened and grew; they faded after he stopped. A second patient developed multiple new atypical moles within a week of two melanotan injections. These are single cases [1,2].
• A melanoma reported after use: a 22-year-old woman who used Melanotan II nasal spray for tanning developed a lump in her upper jaw that turned out to be a mucosal malignant melanoma; she had surgery and is on continuing immunotherapy. One case cannot show the drug caused it, and mucosal melanoma also occurs in people who never used it [3].
• Muscle breakdown and kidney injury: a 39-year-old man injected 6 mg, six times his starting dose, and reached hospital sweating, agitated and trembling, pulse 146. Creatine kinase climbed to 17,773 IU/L and creatinine to 2.25 mg/dL; three days in intensive care for rhabdomyolysis and failing kidneys. A separate case report describes a kidney infarction attributed to the same drug [4,5].
• An erection that would not stop: a man came to the emergency department with acute low-flow priapism after injecting melanotan under the skin of his abdomen; it was broken with needle aspiration and phenylephrine into the penis, and four weeks later he had still not recovered erectile function. A prolonged erection is a surgical emergency [6].
• Nausea, yawning and drowsiness: in the first human study, three men on repeated subcutaneous doses had mild nausea at most dose levels, and at 0.03 mg/kg one of two had moderate drowsiness and fatigue. A stretching-and-yawning pattern came just before spontaneous erections that lasted one to five hours. Pigmentation was still measurable a week after dosing stopped [7].

References

1. Cardones AR, Grichnik JM. alpha-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone-induced eruptive nevi. Arch Dermatol. 2009;145(4):441-4. PMID 19380666. doi:10.1001/archdermatol.2008.623
2. Reid C, Fitzgerald T, Fabre A, et al. Atypical melanocytic naevi following melanotan injection. Ir Med J. 2013;106(5):148-9. PMID 23914578.
3. Yassin Alsabbagh A, Bhujel N, Singh RP. Melanotan II nasal spray: a possible risk factor for oral mucosal malignant melanoma? Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2025;54(9):806-808. PMID 40210573. doi:10.1016/j.ijom.2025.03.014
4. Nelson ME, Bryant SM, Aks SE. Melanotan II injection resulting in systemic toxicity and rhabdomyolysis. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2012;50(10):1169-73. PMID 23121206. doi:10.3109/15563650.2012.740637
5. Peters B, Hadimeri H, Wahlberg R, et al. Melanotan II: a possible cause of renal infarction: review of the literature and case report. CEN Case Rep. 2020;9(2):159-161. PMID 31953620. doi:10.1007/s13730-020-00447-z
6. Dreyer BA, Amer T, Fraser M. Melanotan-induced priapism: a hard-earned tan. BMJ Case Rep. 2019;12(2). PMID 30796078. doi:10.1136/bcr-2018-227644
7. Dorr RT, Lines R, Levine N, et al. Evaluation of melanotan-II, a superpotent cyclic melanotropic peptide in a pilot phase-I clinical study. Life Sci. 1996;58(20):1777-84. PMID 8637402. doi:10.1016/0024-3205(96)00160-9
8. Giraudo SQ, Billington CJ, Levine AS. Feeding effects of hypothalamic injection of melanocortin 4 receptor ligands. Brain Res. 1998;809(2):302-6. PMID 9853124. doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(98)00837-3