What is Melanotan II?
Melanotan II, often called MT2, is a lab-made copy of alpha-MSH, the hormone that tells skin cells to make melanin. It was developed at the University of Arizona in the 1980s and 1990s.
It is sold online as “tanning injections” and nasal sprays, but it isn’t approved as a medicine anywhere.
What does Melanotan II do?
MT2 darkens the skin without sun exposure by switching on melanin production. Because it also acts on other receptors in the brain, it can raise sexual arousal and lower appetite.
What does the research on Melanotan II show?
Small early studies in the 1990s showed it could tan skin and cause erections. It was never developed further as a tanning drug.
A related compound, bremelanotide (Vyleesi, PT-141), was later approved for low sexual desire in some premenopausal women. A different peptide, Melanotan I (afamelanotide), is approved for a rare light-sensitivity disorder.
Melanotan II side effects and risks
Common side effects are nausea, facial flushing, loss of appetite, and new or darker moles and freckles. Doctors have reported melanoma and fast-changing moles in users, along with painful prolonged erections, muscle breakdown and kidney damage.
Experts disagree about how much of the melanoma risk comes from MT2 itself and how much from extra sun and sunbed use by people who use it. Either way, darker skin and new moles make skin cancer harder to spot, and products sold online aren’t checked for purity or contamination.
Is Melanotan II legal?
Melanotan II is not approved by the FDA or any other regulator, and health agencies in the US, UK, Australia and elsewhere have warned the public not to use it. Selling it for human use is illegal in many countries.