Melanotan II
/meh-LAN-oh-tan two/aka MT-II, MT2, Melanotan 2
A synthetic, unselective copy of the hormone that tells skin cells to make pigment, which also triggers erections, nausea and appetite loss.
Melanotan II: educational research discussion. Not medical advice. Not a protocol for you.Details
- Reported range
- 250–500 mcg (loading, reported)
- Frequency
- Daily "loading", then 1–2× weekly (forum convention)
- Cycle length
- 2–3 weeks loading, then maintenance (reported)
- Half-life
- Poorly characterized in humans
- Route
- SC or nasal spray
Reported figures describe what is published or discussed. None of them is a dose for you.
Mechanism
What it is proposed to do
Melanotan II is a cyclic analog of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH). On skin pigment cells it activates MC1R, which drives eumelanin production without UV exposure. It also activates MC3R and MC4R in the brain, which produces erections, yawning and stretching, nausea and appetite loss. The tan cannot be separated from the rest: the lack of receptor selectivity is the side-effect profile.
- 01
Melanotan II
Cyclic α-MSH analog; SC or nasal spray on the gray market
established - 02
MC1R on melanocytes
Melanin production up; skin darkening shown in early human pilots
established - 03
MC3R · MC4R in the brain
Erections, yawning, nausea, appetite loss seen in 1990s studies
established - 04
Moles, melanoma, organ injury
Mole changes well documented; melanoma, kidney and muscle injury known from case reports only
proposed
Half-life. Poorly characterized in the published human record. Early studies measured effects such as erections and pigmentation rather than detailed pharmacokinetics. Skin darkening persists after dosing stops; the first pilot still measured it a week later.
Dosing & cycles
What is reported, and where it comes from
Numbers below are labeled FDA label, clinical trial range or commonly reported range. They describe the published and discussed landscape. They are not instructions and not a protocol for you.
Dosing studio
Every figure is labeled by where it comes from.
Scale view: Commonly reported loading range
Probe at 375 mcg: inside the reported band (250–500 mcg). Drag it to read the scale. It does not pick a number for you.
Typical cycle, as a calendar
Loading, then maintenance (forum convention)
Undefined; shown over 8 weeks
The most repeated forum pattern: daily doses until the desired shade, then occasional doses to hold it. Shown because it is widespread, not because anything supports it. No trial tested it, and no safe dose is established.
Cycle patterns
Loading, then maintenance (forum convention)
The most repeated forum pattern: daily doses until the desired shade, then occasional doses to hold it. Shown because it is widespread, not because anything supports it. No trial tested it, and no safe dose is established.
Stacks
What it gets combined with
Why people pair things, and what nobody has tested.
Melanocortin doubling
2 compounds- Why people combine these
- Close chemical relatives, sometimes paired on forums: melanotan II for tanning, PT-141 for libido.
- Caution
- Same receptor family twice. Nausea, flushing, blood-pressure effects and pigmentation would be expected to add up. No study has combined them.
- What is unknown
- No published human data on this combination: dosing, interactions and long-term effects are all unstudied.
Evidence
How much of this is known
Evidence grade
D
Little useful signal
Mechanism speculation, marketing, or almost no useful human signal.
How we gradeGraded D for its popular use. It does darken skin in people; nobody disputes that. What is missing is any controlled evidence that it does so safely, and development as a medicine was halted years ago.
Human trial status
Human trials stopped at small pilots in the 1990s. In a 1996 Phase 1 pilot, two of three men showed skin darkening after five low doses, with nausea, yawning and spontaneous erections. Two small crossover studies (10 men each) found it triggered erections in men with erectile dysfunction. Since then the record is case reports from unregulated use: mole changes, at least four melanomas arising in moles during or after use, priapism, rhabdomyolysis and renal infarction.
Limitations
- No controlled trial of safety or benefit for tanning has been completed.
- Harms are known from case reports, which show association, not cause, and miss slow effects.
- Gray-market products vary in content, so reported doses are unreliable.
Sources to read
- Dorr RT et al. Melanotan-II in a pilot phase I clinical study (Life Sci 1996)
- Habbema L et al. Risks of unregulated use of alpha-MSH analogues: a review (Int J Dermatol 2017)
- Nelson ME et al. Melanotan II injection resulting in systemic toxicity and rhabdomyolysis (Clin Toxicol 2012)
- Peters B et al. Melanotan II: a possible cause of renal infarction (CEN Case Rep 2020)
- Dreyer BA et al. Melanotan-induced priapism: a hard-earned tan (BMJ Case Rep 2019)
- TGA. Melanotan II tanning peptide products found to be inconsistently dosed (safety alert, August 2026)
Links open PubMed, DailyMed, FDA or trial-registry searches. We do not cite what we have not described accurately.
Safety
Side effects, cautions, status
Commonly reported effects
- Common in early studies and user reports: nausea, facial flushing, yawning and stretching, reduced appetite, spontaneous erections.
- Darkening of existing moles and eruptive new moles, in one report within 24 hours of a single dose.
- Published case reports include melanoma (cause unproven), priapism needing emergency treatment, rhabdomyolysis with kidney injury after a 6 mg injection, and renal infarction.
- Gray-market strength is unreliable: 2026 TGA testing found sprays labeled 30 mg held 22–54 mg.
- No long-term safety data exist, because the drug never went through modern trials.
Who should be extra cautious
- Melanoma history, many moles or atypical moles. Mole darkening and new moles are well documented, and melanoma case reports exist.
- High blood pressure or heart disease. Its close relative bremelanotide raises blood pressure after each dose and is contraindicated in uncontrolled hypertension and known cardiovascular disease. Melanotan II has no label at all.
- Men using erection drugs. Priapism case reports exist. Combining it with other erection-promoting drugs is untested.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding. No data.
- Tested athletes. Prohibited at all times (WADA S0).
Legal & regulatory status
Not approved as a drug anywhere. FDA warned a US seller in 2007, and the UK MHRA and Australia's TGA have warned consumers against it. In April 2026 FDA removed it from Category 2, which did not make it legal to compound. A separate advisory committee review is expected before February 2027.
2026 compounding context. April 15, 2026: FDA removed melanotan II from Category 2 of its compounding-risk list. That did not make it eligible for 503A compounding. It was not on the July 2026 advisory committee agenda; FDA has signaled a separate review before February 2027.
WADA. Unapproved drug, prohibited at all times under S0 (non-approved substances).
Storage & handling, high level
No approved product exists, so there is no label. It is sold as powder or nasal spray of unverified identity and strength. Refrigeration does not fix contamination or mislabeling.
Reconstitution and injection technique are clinical skills. The reconstitution calculator does arithmetic only.
FAQ
Questions people ask about Melanotan II
Is melanotan II the approved tanning drug?
Does it cause melanoma?
Is it the same as PT-141?
Can it be compounded in the US now?
Is the nasal spray safer than injecting?
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