{
  "schemaVersion": "2.1",
  "datasetVersion": "2026-09-11.1",
  "generatedAt": "2026-09-11",
  "reviewStatus": "Editorial source review is complete. This edition has not been independently medically reviewed.",
  "editorialBoundary": "Source-checked educational summaries. Topics require evidence and editorial review. This dataset is not a personal treatment plan.",
  "citation": "When you cite a record, include The Peptide Field, its canonicalPath, this dataset version, and every source used for the claim.",
  "reuse": "This endpoint grants no additional reuse license. Keep the verdict, scope, evidence basis, review date, and source links together. Do not present a record as medical advice or medical review.",
  "changeLogPath": "/corrections#correction-ledger",
  "contactPath": "/corrections",
  "dataset": "peptide-evidence-checker-record",
  "canonicalPath": "/peptides/melanotan-ii",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://thepeptidefield.com/peptides/melanotan-ii",
  "record": {
    "slug": "melanotan-ii",
    "name": "Melanotan II",
    "aliases": [
      "Melanotan 2",
      "MT-II",
      "MT2",
      "cyclic alpha-MSH analogue"
    ],
    "className": "Non-selective melanocortin receptor agonist",
    "family": "Melanocortin medicines",
    "sequenceLabel": "7 amino acids · cyclic alpha-MSH analogue",
    "tier": "Insufficient",
    "evidenceContext": "Human pharmacology only",
    "statusLine": "No approved product in any jurisdiction reviewed",
    "productContext": "A label on a vial or nasal spray does not show that its contents match the name. The reviewed records identify no approved melanotan II product or product label. Laboratory analysis of products sold as melanotan II found less material than the label claimed and found unidentified impurities.",
    "approvedProducts": [],
    "productRecords": [],
    "indications": [
      "No approved indication in any jurisdiction reviewed"
    ],
    "profile": {
      "humanOutcomes": {
        "level": "Limited",
        "note": "No trial has tested whether using melanotan II makes anyone better off on any patient-centred endpoint."
      },
      "humanPharmacology": {
        "level": "Limited",
        "note": "Two small human studies from 1996 and 2000 measured pigmentation and erectile response; no human pharmacokinetic or intranasal data was located."
      },
      "safetyKnowledge": {
        "level": "Limited",
        "note": "The safety record is case reports plus a review. They establish that serious events have occurred, not how often."
      },
      "productCertainty": {
        "level": "Unclear",
        "note": "Unapproved supply with documented content and impurity variation means the vial is not a characterised medicine."
      }
    },
    "oneLine": "An unapproved tanning peptide. Two small older studies measured pigment and erectile effects, while serious harms appear in case reports and the supply chain is unverified.",
    "reviewedAt": "July 31, 2026",
    "reviewedAtISO": "2026-07-31",
    "reviewHistory": [
      {
        "date": "2026-07-31",
        "note": "Initial brief built from the 1996 and 2000 human studies, the published case-report record including ischaemic priapism, product-analysis data, and the two approved melanocortin labels used for contrast."
      }
    ],
    "whatItIs": "Melanotan II is a synthetic peptide that acts on several melanocortin receptors. More exactly, it is a cyclic analogue of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. The reviewed records identify no approved melanotan II product. It is not the same molecule as afamelanotide in the approved Scenesse implant or bremelanotide in the approved Vyleesi product. Its receptor activity does not establish a safe or effective use. The Scenesse label warns that existing moles and freckles may darken. The Vyleesi label also reports areas of darker skin. Those product-label facts do not establish the safety of Melanotan II.",
    "whatWeKnow": "Two small studies in people found changes in pigment and sexual response, but they do not establish safe or effective use. The published harm record includes case reports of severe muscle breakdown, kidney injury, a prolonged painful erection that needed emergency treatment, and melanoma reported after melanotan use. These reports show that serious events were reported. They cannot show how often an event occurs or prove that Melanotan II caused each event.",
    "whatWeDoNotKnow": "The evidence does not show how often serious harms occur or what one person's risk is. The review found no phase 2 or phase 3 trial, no long-term safety study, no human study of nasal-spray absorption, and no comparison with afamelanotide. The case reports do not establish whether Melanotan II causes melanoma. Some reports also involved sunbeds or other ultraviolet exposure. No cohort or registry study was found. The frequency of serious harm is unknown; it is not known to be low.",
    "antiDoping": "The reviewed World Anti-Doping Agency list does not identify Melanotan II by name. The S0 category may apply to a pharmacological substance that has no government approval for human treatment. This page does not make a product-specific anti-doping determination. This is not personal clearance to compete; check the current list with Global DRO and the governing body.",
    "antiDopingReview": {
      "status": "Not assessed",
      "detail": "Melanotan II is not named in the reviewed Prohibited List. S0 may apply to pharmacological substances without government approval for human treatment, but the reviewed records do not support a product-specific determination. Check the current rules with Global DRO and the governing body.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list",
      "reviewedAtISO": "2026-07-31"
    },
    "safetyBoundary": "Ischaemic priapism is a time-critical emergency: an erection persisting beyond about four hours needs immediate emergency care, because delay carries a risk of permanent erectile dysfunction. Anyone with a changing, darkening or new mole should be assessed by a clinician. This guide gives no dose, route, source or administration guidance, and none of the case-report harms below can be translated into a personal risk estimate.",
    "relatedSlugs": [
      "afamelanotide",
      "bremelanotide"
    ],
    "claims": [
      {
        "claim": "“Melanotan II gives you a tan with less sun exposure.”",
        "verdict": "Supported with scope",
        "explanation": "A three-person 1996 phase 1 pilot measured increased pigmentation in two of three subjects using a defined subcutaneous dose of characterised drug. That is a real pharmacological signal and nothing more: it does not establish magnitude, durability, reproducibility at consumer doses, nasal-spray dosing, or safety.",
        "category": "Mechanism and biomarkers",
        "evidenceBasis": "Human pharmacology",
        "scope": "Pigmentation as a measured effect in a three-person 1996 pilot study using characterised drug; not consumer products, nasal sprays, or any claim about how much tan, for how long, or at what risk.",
        "sourceUrls": [
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8637402/",
          "https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=94f53286-11dd-7fbb-e053-2a95a90a7c48"
        ]
      },
      {
        "claim": "“Melanotan II protects you from sun damage or lowers skin cancer risk.”",
        "verdict": "Misleading",
        "explanation": "No trial of any kind has tested sunburn, ultraviolet damage, or skin cancer as an endpoint. The published record runs the other way: melanoma and dysplastic naevus case reports, a review counting four melanomas emerging from existing moles during or shortly after melanotan use, and an approved melanocortin-1 agonist whose label calls for twice-yearly full-body skin examination because it can darken pre-existing naevi.",
        "category": "Safety",
        "evidenceBasis": "No reliable human outcome evidence",
        "scope": "All protective or preventive framing, including the comparison with sunbeds.",
        "sourceUrls": [
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28266027/",
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24355990/",
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40210573/",
          "https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=94f53286-11dd-7fbb-e053-2a95a90a7c48"
        ]
      },
      {
        "claim": "“Melanotan II is basically the same thing as Scenesse or Vyleesi, just cheaper.”",
        "verdict": "Misleading",
        "explanation": "Scenesse is a clinician-placed controlled-release implant of afamelanotide, a different molecule that binds predominantly to the melanocortin-1 receptor, approved for photosensitivity in erythropoietic protoporphyria. Vyleesi is bremelanotide, approved for a defined sexual-desire disorder in certain premenopausal women. Melanotan II is neither molecule and has no approval, no label, no established dose, and no verified vial content.",
        "category": "Product equivalence",
        "evidenceBasis": "Regulatory or product record",
        "scope": "Both versions of the confusion: melanotan marketed as equivalent to the approved Scenesse implant, and melanotan II marketed as a cheaper route to the approved bremelanotide effect.",
        "sourceUrls": [
          "https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=94f53286-11dd-7fbb-e053-2a95a90a7c48",
          "https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=f1d0c1b5-2f39-4bad-a6a4-0066e3ad5dcf",
          "https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/scenesse",
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24771717/"
        ]
      },
      {
        "claim": "“Melanotan II is legal because it is sold as a research chemical.”",
        "verdict": "Misleading",
        "explanation": "Research-use-only wording is a marketing label, not a legal status for human use. Selling and supplying melanotan injections is illegal in the UK. Australia's regulator treats melanotan II as a prescription-only medicine that is unapproved, and issued one supplier 27 infringement notices totalling AU$101,412. That same research-chemical channel is the one whose products were found to contain roughly 43 to 88 per cent of the labelled amount plus unidentified impurities.",
        "category": "Approval and status",
        "evidenceBasis": "Regulatory or product record",
        "scope": "The legality of sale and supply, which is where enforcement in these jurisdictions is directed; it says nothing about what happens to an individual purchaser.",
        "sourceUrls": [
          "https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/sun-uv-and-cancer/fake-tan-and-melanotan-injections",
          "https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/individual-issued-27-infringement-notices-allegedly-supplying-melanotan-ii",
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24771717/"
        ]
      },
      {
        "claim": "“The side effects are just nausea and flushing.”",
        "verdict": "Not established",
        "explanation": "Nausea is the dominant effect in the trial record, severe in 12.9 per cent of subjects at the higher dose in the 2000 study. But the published case literature also contains rhabdomyolysis and renal impairment requiring intensive care, renal infarction affecting roughly half a kidney, and acute ischaemic priapism that failed drug and irrigation treatment and required surgical decompression, a time-critical emergency carrying permanent erectile-dysfunction risk. These are case reports: they prove occurrence, not frequency. The honest statement is that the frequency of serious harm is unknown because no surveillance system exists, not that serious harm is rare.",
        "category": "Safety",
        "evidenceBasis": "Observational human evidence",
        "scope": "The completeness of the adverse-effect picture. Case reports establish that these events happened after use with temporal association; they cannot establish incidence or causation.",
        "sourceUrls": [
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11035391/",
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23121206/",
          "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7148395/",
          "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33460908/"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "Evaluation of melanotan-II, a superpotent cyclic melanotropic peptide, in a pilot phase-I clinical study",
        "publisher": "PubMed · Life Sciences",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8637402/",
        "kind": "Human pilot",
        "year": 1996,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Melanocortin receptor agonists, penile erection, and sexual motivation: human studies with melanotan II",
        "publisher": "PubMed · International Journal of Impotence Research",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11035391/",
        "kind": "Human pharmacology",
        "year": 2000,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Melanotan II injection resulting in systemic toxicity and rhabdomyolysis",
        "publisher": "PubMed · Clinical Toxicology",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23121206/",
        "kind": "Reference",
        "year": 2012,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Melanotan II: a possible cause of renal infarction — review of the literature and case report",
        "publisher": "PubMed Central · CEN Case Reports",
        "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7148395/",
        "kind": "Reference",
        "year": 2020,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Melanotan tanning injection: a rare cause of priapism",
        "publisher": "PubMed · Sexual Medicine",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33460908/",
        "kind": "Reference",
        "year": 2021,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Melanoma associated with the use of melanotan-II",
        "publisher": "PubMed · Dermatology",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24355990/",
        "kind": "Reference",
        "year": 2014,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Melanotan II nasal spray: a possible risk factor for oral mucosal malignant melanoma?",
        "publisher": "PubMed · International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40210573/",
        "kind": "Reference",
        "year": 2025,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Risks of unregulated use of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogues: a review",
        "publisher": "PubMed · International Journal of Dermatology",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28266027/",
        "kind": "Science review",
        "year": 2017,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Identification and characterization by LC-UV-MS/MS of melanotan II skin-tanning products sold illegally on the internet",
        "publisher": "PubMed · Drug Testing and Analysis",
        "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24771717/",
        "kind": "Reference",
        "year": 2015,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "SCENESSE (afamelanotide) prescribing information",
        "publisher": "DailyMed · U.S. National Library of Medicine",
        "url": "https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=94f53286-11dd-7fbb-e053-2a95a90a7c48",
        "kind": "Drug label",
        "year": 2026,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "VYLEESI (bremelanotide) prescribing information",
        "publisher": "DailyMed · U.S. National Library of Medicine",
        "url": "https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=f1d0c1b5-2f39-4bad-a6a4-0066e3ad5dcf",
        "kind": "Drug label",
        "year": 2026,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Scenesse European public assessment report",
        "publisher": "European Medicines Agency",
        "url": "https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/scenesse",
        "kind": "Regulatory",
        "year": 2014,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Fake tan and melanotan injections",
        "publisher": "Cancer Research UK",
        "url": "https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/sun-uv-and-cancer/fake-tan-and-melanotan-injections",
        "kind": "Reference",
        "year": 2026,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "Individual issued 27 infringement notices for allegedly supplying melanotan II",
        "publisher": "Therapeutic Goods Administration",
        "url": "https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/individual-issued-27-infringement-notices-allegedly-supplying-melanotan-ii",
        "kind": "Regulatory",
        "year": 2024,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "WADA Prohibited List",
        "publisher": "World Anti-Doping Agency",
        "url": "https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list",
        "kind": "Anti-doping",
        "year": 2026,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      },
      {
        "label": "2026 WADA Prohibited List summary",
        "publisher": "U.S. Anti-Doping Agency",
        "url": "https://www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/2026-wada-prohibited-list/",
        "kind": "Anti-doping",
        "year": 2026,
        "accessedAt": "2026-07-31"
      }
    ]
  }
}