MT2 Rx

THE LITERATURE / SOURCES

Melanotan 2 References

Every study summarized across this site, listed with its identifiers.

Back to the researchThe effects record

The cited record

These are the Melanotan 2 references behind every claim on this site, each resolvable by its PubMed ID or DOI. The list spans the foundational human pilot studies, the mechanism literature, the rodent record, and the case reports of harm. Where a source is a case report, it is one patient's documented story — informative, but not controlled evidence; where it is a review, it summarizes a wider body of work. Nothing here is a treatment recommendation; the list exists so every summary on this site can be traced to its source.

  1. Dorr RT, Lines R, Levine N, Brooks C, Xiang L, Hruby VJ, Hadley ME. Evaluation of melanotan-II, a superpotent cyclic melanotropic peptide in a pilot phase-I clinical study. Life Sci. 1996;58(20):1777-1784. ↗
  2. Wessells H, Fuciarelli K, Hansen J, Hadley ME, Hruby VJ, Dorr R, Levine N. Synthetic melanotropic peptide initiates erections in men with psychogenic erectile dysfunction: double-blind, placebo controlled crossover study. J Urol. 1998;160(2):389-393. ↗
  3. Hadley ME, Dorr RT. Melanocortin peptide therapeutics: historical milestones, clinical studies and commercialization. Peptides. 2006;27(4):921-930. ↗
  4. Peters B, Hadimeri H, Wahlberg R, Afghahi H. Melanotan II: a possible cause of renal infarction: review of the literature and case report. CEN Case Rep. 2020;9(2):159-161. ↗
  5. Eliason NL, Martin L, Low MJ, Sharpe AL. Melanocortin receptor agonist melanotan-II microinjected in the nucleus accumbens decreases appetitive and consumptive responding for food. Neuropeptides. 2022;96:102289. ↗
  6. Banno R, Arima H, Hayashi M, et al. Central administration of melanocortin agonist increased insulin sensitivity in diet-induced obese rats. FEBS Lett. 2007;581:1131-1136. ↗
  7. Lan EL, Ugwu SO, Blanchard J, Fang X, Hruby VJ, Sharma S. Preformulation studies with melanotan-II: a potential skin cancer chemopreventive peptide. J Pharm Sci. 1994;83(8):1081-1084. ↗
  8. Strom MA, et al. Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH): biology, clinical relevance and implication in melanoma. J Transl Med. 2023;21(1):562. ↗
  9. Eruptive dysplastic nevi following melanotan use. (Case report.) 2012. ↗
  10. Changes of melanocytic lesions induced by Melanotan injections and sun bed use in a teenage patient with FAMMM syndrome. 2012. ↗
  11. Eruptive melanocytic naevi following melanotan injection. 2009. ↗
  12. Melanotan-associated melanoma. 2011. ↗
  13. Melanotan-associated melanoma in situ. 2012. ↗
  14. Identification and characterization by LC-UV-MS/MS of melanotan II skin-tanning products sold illegally on the Internet. 2015. ↗
  15. Dermoscopic changes in melanocytic nevi during use of melanotan II. 2012. ↗
  16. Melanotan II injection resulting in systemic toxicity and rhabdomyolysis. 2012. ↗
  17. Melanotan II overdose associated with priapism. 2013. ↗
  18. Melanotan Tanning Injection: A Rare Cause of Priapism. 2021. ↗
  19. Melanotan-induced priapism: a hard-earned tan. 2019. ↗
  20. Melanotan and the posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. 2013. ↗
  21. Hemodynamic actions and mechanisms of systemically administered alpha-MSH analogs in mice. 2012. ↗
  22. Systemic but not central nervous system nitric oxide synthase inhibition exacerbates the hypertensive effects of chronic melanocortin-3/4 receptor activation. 2011. ↗
  23. Assessment of the aversive consequences of acute and chronic administration of the melanocortin agonist, MTII. 2003. ↗
  24. LC-HRMS characterization of the skin pigmentation and sexual enhancers melanotan II and bremelanotide sold on the black market of performance and image enhancing drugs. 2021. ↗
  25. Risks of unregulated use of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogues: a review. 2017. ↗
  26. The unregulated use of melanotan-II is of public health interest to Australian dermatologists. 2017. ↗
  27. Melanotan II User Experience: A Qualitative Study of Online Discussion Forums. 2021. ↗
  28. The 'Barbie Drug'-marketing and perceptions of melanotan on social media. 2025. ↗
  29. Paiva L, Sabatier N, Leng G, Ludwig M. Effect of Melanotan-II on Brain Fos Immunoreactivity and Oxytocin Neuronal Activity and Secretion in Rats. J Neuroendocrinol. 2017;29(2):e12454. ↗
  30. Lam CW, Perretti M, Getting SJ. Melanocortin receptor signaling in RAW264.7 macrophage cell line. Peptides. 2006;27:404-412. ↗
  31. Weirath NA, Haskell-Luevano C. Recommended Tool Compounds for the Melanocortin Receptor (MCR) G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci. 2024. ↗
  32. Ugwu SO, Blanchard J, Nguyen LD, Hadley ME, Dorr RT. A comparison of HPLC and bioassay methods for plasma melanotan-II (MT-II) determination: application to a pharmacokinetic study in rats. Biopharm Drug Dispos. 1994;15(5):383-394. ↗
  33. Bonchev A. Changes in Oral Mucosa Associated with Melanotan II Injections: A Case Report. Life (Basel). 2026;16(2):265. ↗