Melanotan 2
Melanotan 2, also called Melanotan II or MT-II, is a lab-made cyclic alpha-MSH peptide[1]. A 1996 phase 1 study found darker skin in 2 of 3 healthy men one week after dosing ended[1]. The same Arizona group also studied erections and sex drive in 20 men with ED[4]. Human papers recorded nausea, yawning, stretching, sleepiness, fatigue, lower appetite, and erections after dosing[1]. FDA's US compounding page lists serious case-report topics for MT-II[9].
What is Melanotan 2?
The first human paper calls MT-II a cyclic alpha-MSH analogue[1]. It gives the structure and the first small human tanning result in the same abstract[1]. A 2026 mouth-color case report says MT-II belongs to the melanocortin hormone family[7].
The main claimed use is tanning. The best cited human tanning result is small but direct. A separate line of University of Arizona work studied ED and sex drive. Afamelanotide is a different substance, so Scenesse records do not transfer to MT-II[17].
What has been published in humans?
One human tanning paper was found in the opened clinical-paper set. Three other papers measured ED response. The 20-man paper says it reviews the group's work, so this page does not count those 20 men again as extra people[4]. The open records are abstracts and PubMed data, not full trial texts.
| Source | People | Measured result | Limit | Funder note | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | 3 healthy men | Darker skin was measured in 2 of 3 men one week after dosing ended. The sites were face, upper body, and buttocks. | Single-blind phase 1 study; not a long-term study | PubMed lists NCI grant CA27502 | 2026-08-30 |
| [3] | 10 men with psychogenic ED | Clear erections developed in 8 of 10 men. Tip stiffness above 80 percent lasted 38.0 minutes with MT-II and 3.0 minutes with placebo. The comparison was p = 0.0045. | Six-hour crossover study | PubMed lists NIDDK grant DK 17420 and NCI grant P0L CA 27502 | 2026-08-30 |
| [4] | 20 men with psychogenic or organic ED | Erections occurred in 17 of 20 men without sex cues. Mean tip stiffness above 80 percent lasted 41 minutes. Desire rose after 13 of 19 MT-II administrations and 4 of 21 placebo administrations. The comparison was p < 0.01. | Review of the same group's work; overlap is likely with the two 10-man papers | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [5] | 10 men with organic ED risk factors | Erections followed 12 of 19 MT-II administrations and 1 of 21 placebo administrations. Tip stiffness above 80 percent lasted 45.3 minutes with MT-II and 1.9 minutes with placebo. The comparison was p = 0.047. | Six-hour crossover study; not a tanning study | PubMed lists NIDDK grant DK 17420 | 2026-08-30 |
The tanning study is the clearest reason this compound belongs on a reader page. It used a light meter and a visual check[1]. The ED findings also matter because they explain why this compound sits near the later melanocortin drug bremelanotide in the public record.
The four records do not prove durable tanning. They do not answer nasal-spray performance. They do not test a grey-market vial. They show what named studies found in small named groups.
What side effects and safety findings were recorded?
The human papers recorded short-window effects. Case reports record events in single people. The FDA row is a US regulator summary of case topics. None of these rows gives a rate for all users.
| Source | Recorded safety finding | Funding note | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | One of two subjects at 0.03 mg/kg had grade II sleepiness and fatigue. Mild nausea was reported at most MT-II dose levels. Stretching and yawning appeared with erections lasting 1 to 5 hours. | PubMed lists NCI grant CA27502 | 2026-08-30 |
| [3] | Nausea, stretching, yawning, and lower appetite were more common after MT-II than placebo. None required treatment. | PubMed lists NIDDK grant DK 17420 and NCI grant P0L CA 27502 | 2026-08-30 |
| [4] | Nausea and yawning were common. Severe nausea occurred in 12.9 percent of subjects at 0.025 mg/kg. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [5] | Nausea, stretching, and yawning were more common with MT-II. Severe nausea followed 4 of 19 MT-II administrations. | PubMed lists NIDDK grant DK 17420 | 2026-08-30 |
| [6] | A 20-year-old woman had melanoma confirmed after a 3- to 4-week course of self-injected MT-II and sunbed tanning. The authors wrote that MT-II with sunbeds coincided with melanoma. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [7] | One person used MT-II for 64 days. Cheek color had nearly gone one month after stopping. Gum color was still present, with lower strength, at three months. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [8] | A 22-year-old woman developed an anterior-maxilla mass after using a Melanotan II nasal spray. Histology confirmed mouth melanoma. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [9] | FDA names published case reports of melanoma, PRES, sympathomimetic toxidrome, and priapism. FDA also names immunogenicity risk from aggregation or peptide impurities. | US regulator source; not a trial | 2026-08-30 |
The melanoma rows are event reports, not proof of frequency. The 2014 melanoma abstract names sunbed use beside MT-II exposure[6]. The nasal-spray report uses possible-risk wording[8].
What dosage information do sources report for Melanotan 2?
These are source reports. They are not site advice. The rows show what named sources administered or described. No row turns a number into a plan.
| Source | Reported amount | Source type | What that means here | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | The phase 1 tanning study started at 0.01 mg/kg. Two subjects escalated by 0.005 mg/kg steps to 0.03 mg/kg. One subject escalated to 0.025 mg/kg. | Human phase 1 tanning study | These were research amounts in 3 healthy men over two study weeks. | 2026-08-30 |
| [1] | The authors stated a future Phase I single-dose amount of 0.025 mg/kg/day. | Human phase 1 tanning study | This is the authors' future-study statement, not a site dose rule. | 2026-08-30 |
| [3] | The abstract conclusion links the side-effect statement to 0.025 mg/kg. | Human ED crossover study | The public abstract does not print a full schedule. | 2026-08-30 |
| [4] | Severe nausea was reported at 0.025 mg/kg. | Human ED review | This amount is tied to a recorded side-effect rate. | 2026-08-30 |
| [5] | MT-II was administered at 0.025 mg/kg twice. | Human ED crossover study | This study enrolled 10 men with organic risk factors. | 2026-08-30 |
| DailyMed exact-name search[14] | No current US label was found for Melanotan II. | Product-label search | No approved-product dose is supplied by this exact search. | 2026-08-30 |
Opened user-report sources include syringe-unit schedules and self-timed use. Those numbers are not used as dose rows because syringe units are not a mass unless the same source verifies vial content and dilution. The user-report section still quotes what people said about results and timing.
What do animal and laboratory studies add?
The 1996 human trial also reports lab activity. It says MT-II had strong skin-color activity in vitro[1]. The human skin result and the lab result stay apart.
| Source | Finding | Limit | Funder note | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | MT-II had superpotent melanotropic activity in vitro. | The abstract gives no long-term human outcome. | PubMed lists NCI grant CA27502 | 2026-08-30 |
| [7] | The case-report abstract says MT-II acts mainly by activating melanocortin 1 receptors on melanocytes. | This is a case-report summary, not a receptor-binding study. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [7] | The same abstract says that pathway can drive eumelanin and skin color without sun exposure. | This mechanism statement does not prove a nasal-spray tanning result. | Same source | 2026-08-30 |
No animal study is cited here as a treatment result. The useful record is the molecule, the receptor pathway, and the small human tanning result.
What has direct vial or product testing found?
Direct product tests ask what was in a sample. They do not prove a human effect. They help separate a label claim from measured contents.
The same split answers nasal-spray searches. The cited human tanning study did not test a spray[1]. The 2025 nasal-spray paper is a mouth-melanoma case report, not a tanning-effect study[8].
| Source | What was measured | What was not measured | Funder note | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [10] | LC-HRMS characterized MT-II and bremelanotide in 8 unknown samples seized with other performance and image drugs. | The abstract does not say how many samples contained each substance. It gives no purity, sterility, endotoxin, or label-amount result. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [11] | Two drug-like vials were labelled Melanotan II. A reference standard confirmed the identity. The reported purity was 30 percent. | The abstract does not identify the other 70 percent. It does not give a separate result for each vial. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
| [8] | The case report describes a 22-year-old woman who used Melanotan II nasal spray for tanning before mouth melanoma was diagnosed. | It does not measure how often this happens. It does not test tanning effect. | PubMed lists no grant in the checked XML | 2026-08-30 |
What do user reports add?
User reports are self-reported and self-selected public accounts. They add lived reports, not controlled evidence. A forum study counted 623 UK and Ireland discussion entries from 205 participants between January 2016 and October 2017[12]. The authors identified tanning aims, sunbed use, product preparation, dose patterns, side effects, and concerning practices as themes[12].
A Reddit post in r/Melanotan2 shows why a reader may look for first-person reports[13]. It is one self-reported account, not a study. No lab confirmed the product. No payment is disclosed in the opened post.
I just love MT2 and wanna share the tan I've dreamed of getting for years.
First photo is me several years back after being in the south of France for 6 weeks. Not even a shade darker lol.
Second photo is me in Mexico 2 months ago. Being so pale to start and living in Eastern Canada it took me a while to get to this point.
The same post says low or uneven UV exposure and some sunbed use were part of the account. It says the visible change took about two months for that user. No count from this thread is presented as a site-wide consensus.
What is the current evidence status, and what is the regulatory status?
Evidence tier and legal status are separate questions. Trial status is separate too. Product-label records, EU central records, Swedish agency statements, and US compounding records each answer a different thing. A register zero is not a ban. A case report is not a rate.
| Question | Current answer | Source and limit | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence tier | The record is tier B because published human clinical papers exist. | The tanning paper enrolled 3 healthy men, and the ED work is small and short. | 2026-08-30 |
| Human tanning result | One opened clinical paper measured darker skin in 2 of 3 healthy men one week after dosing ended[1]. | No cited human tanning study here is larger than 3 participants. | 2026-08-30 |
| Trial registry | NCT07437560 describes itself as an example interventional record for MT-II with NB-UVB phototherapy in stable nonsegmental vitiligo[16]. | It has no posted results and is not a published result. | 2026-08-30 |
| DailyMed exact product-label search | The exact Melanotan II DailyMed search returned zero current labels[14]. | Exact name only; not a global product search. | 2026-08-30 |
| openFDA exact application search | The exact openFDA brand-name search for Melanotan II returned no matching application[15]. | Exact brand-name application search only. | 2026-08-30 |
| US FDA compounding page | FDA lists Melanotan II in its withdrawn-nominations table and cites immunogenicity, aggregation, peptide impurities, and published case reports[9]. | This is a US pharmacy-compounding source, not an approval status. | 2026-08-30 |
| EMA central medicines report | The EMA report generated 26 August 2026 had 2,732 medicine rows and no Melanotan II, Melanotan 2, or MT-II row[17]. | The central report is not every national authorisation route. | 2026-08-26 |
| Swedish product spreadsheet | A structured scan of Läkemedelsverket's 26 August 2026 product spreadsheet found no Melanotan II, Melanotan 2, or MT-II row[19]. | A product-spreadsheet absence does not classify every product. | 2026-08-26 |
| Swedish agency statement | Läkemedelsverket says Melanotan 2 is illegal to sell and market in Sweden[18]. | The cited sentence is about sale and marketing. It is not extended here to possession or personal use. | 2026-08-30 |
| First observed in circulation | The register month is 2009-02, based on the BMJ title "Use of melanotan I and II in the general population"[20]. | The opened record has no abstract, so this is title-level evidence only. | 2026-08-30 |
The data file is /data/register.json.
See also
- Full Melanotan 2 guide - read the earlier tanning guide and its case-report record.
- Tanning injections hub - compare tanning-route evidence.
- Vial-testing guide - see what product tests can and cannot show.
- Sterility guide - separate identity testing from sterile-use questions.
- Bremelanotide register record - read the related melanocortin drug separately.
FAQ
How long does it take to tan with Melanotan 2?
The 1996 human tanning study measured darker skin in 2 of 3 healthy men one week after dosing ended[1]. One Reddit user described slow visible change over about two months, but that was one self-reported account with some sunbed use[13].
Does Melanotan 2 work without sun exposure?
The 2026 case-report abstract says MT-II can drive skin color without sun exposure through melanocortin 1 receptors[7]. The strongest human tanning result cited here did not test a consumer no-sun plan[1].
How long does Melanotan 2 last in the body?
No cited source here reports a human half-life for Melanotan 2. The 1996 trial recorded erections lasting 1 to 5 hours after dosing[1]. That is an effect window, not a half-life.
Does Melanotan 2 affect the heart?
No controlled heart-outcome trial is cited here. FDA's US compounding page names published case reports of sympathomimetic toxidrome for Melanotan II[9]. The ED trials measured penile stiffness and desire, not heart outcomes.
Does Melanotan 2 darken your hair?
No cited human study here measured hair-color change. The opened human tanning study measured darker skin on the face, upper body, and buttocks[1]. This page therefore does not present a hair-color result.
Is MT2 peptide available in the UK?
A United Kingdom and Ireland forum study says people acquired MT-II injections through the internet and other outlets[12]. That is not a product-authorisation record.
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Dorr RT et al. MT-II phase 1 tanning study. Life Sci, 1996. PMID 8637402. DOI 10.1016/0024-3205(96)00160-9. Used for identity, structure, tanning result, doses, effects, and NCI funding; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b c d e NCATS GSRS. Melanotan II substance record, UNII UPF5CJ93X7. GSRS UPF5CJ93X7. Used for name, UNII, CAS, formula, and weight; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b c Wessells H et al. MT-II psychogenic ED study. J Urol, 1998. PMID 9679884. Used for ED result, dose, effects, and NIH grants; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b c d e Wessells H et al. MT-II ED and sex-drive review. Int J Impot Res, 2000. PMID 11035391. DOI 10.1038/sj.ijir.3900582. Used for 20-man review, desire result, nausea rate, overlap limit, and no-grant note; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b c Wessells H et al. MT-II organic ED study. Urology, 2000. PMID 11018622. DOI 10.1016/s0090-4295(00)00680-4. Used for organic ED result, dose, effects, and NIDDK funding; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b Hjuler KF, Lorentzen HF. MT-II and melanoma case. Dermatology, 2014. PMID 24355990. DOI 10.1159/000356389. Used for the 20-year-old case, sunbed confounder, wording, and no-grant note; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b c d e Bonchev A. MT-II oral color case. Life (Basel), 2026. PMID 41752902. DOI 10.3390/life16020265. Used for class, pathway, 64-day course, oral-color timeline, and no-grant note; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b c d Alsabbagh AY et al. MT-II nasal spray and mouth melanoma case. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 2025. PMID 40210573. DOI 10.1016/j.ijom.2025.03.014. Used for nasal-spray case, age, diagnosis, and no-grant note; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b c d United States FDA. Compounding substances with risk concerns. Content current 22 April 2026. US FDA compounding page. Used for MT-II row, risk wording, and case list; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ Mestria S et al. MT-II and bremelanotide product study. Drug Test Anal, 2021. PMID 33245851. DOI 10.1002/dta.2986. Used for seized-sample product test and limits; checked 2026-09-05.
- ↑ Deville M, Charlier C. Barbie drug identification. J Forensic Sci, 2024. PMID 39302005. DOI 10.1111/1556-4029.15633. Used for two labelled vials, identity proof, 30 percent purity, and no-grant note; checked 2026-09-05.
- ↑ a b c Gilhooley E et al. MT-II forum study. Dermatology, 2021. PMID 34464955. DOI 10.1159/000514492. Used for UK/Ireland forum method, counts, themes, and no-grant note; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b Reddit user libisn. 4-5 month results, r/Melanotan2, 2024. Reddit thread. Used for one self-report, limits, and timeline; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b National Library of Medicine. DailyMed exact search for Melanotan II. Used for US label-search absence; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ United States FDA. openFDA exact search for Melanotan II. Used for brand-name app-search absence; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ Hudson Biotech. MT-II plus NB-UVB vitiligo record. Trial registry, 2026. NCT07437560. Used for example-record wording, condition, sponsor, and no results; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ a b European Medicines Agency. Medicines output report. Generated 26 August 2026. EMA medicines report. Used for central EMA zero, Scenesse contrast, row count, and route limit; checked 2026-08-26.
- ↑ Lakemedelsverket. Fraga om Melanotan 2 och halsorisker. Swedish Medical Products Agency Q&A. Lakemedelsverket Q&A. Used for sale-and-marketing wording and Swedish scope; checked 2026-08-30.
- ↑ Lakemedelsverket. Lakemedelsprodukter spreadsheet. Swedish Medical Products Agency, sheet dated 26 August 2026. Lakemedelsprodukter XLSX. Used for Swedish product zero and Scenesse contrast; checked 2026-08-26.
- ↑ a b Evans-Brown M et al. Melanotan I and II in the general population. BMJ, 2009. PMID 19224885. DOI 10.1136/bmj.b566. Used for title-level first-observed month and boundary; checked 2026-09-05.