A xeroxed-and-stapled reading of the Melanotan II record — Arizona, MC4R, and what the case reports actually say.
Melanotan II Reviews

Issue 1 / Section V

REFERENCES

twenty-one entries. sorted by year. searchable.

The Complete Citation List

The 21 citations below span the complete Melanotan II research literature cited across this site: from the 1996 University of Arizona phase I tanning pilot through a 2026 case report of oral mucosal pigmentation. They include three controlled human clinical trials, multiple rodent pharmacology studies, seven human case reports (toxicology and dermatology), three qualitative sociological studies of MT-II user behavior, one systematic social media review, and two narrative/mechanistic reviews. The DataTable below is sortable by year, author, and study type, and searchable by any text field. Outbound links go to PubMed, PMC, or the publisher DOI — primary sources only.

Note on citation [13]: this entry is a JAAD correspondence piece where full author names are not available in the published abstract; the citation includes all available bibliographic data.

Note on citation [21]: this is a 2025 JAAD conference abstract; full author names are not listed in the published abstract.

  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 Sciences. 1996;58(20):1777-84. ↗
  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. Journal of Urology. 1998;160(2):389-393. ↗
  3. Wessells H, Gralnek D, Dorr R, Hruby VJ, Hadley ME, Levine N. Effect of an alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone analog on penile erection and sexual desire in men with organic erectile dysfunction. Urology. 2000;56(4):641-6. ↗
  4. 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;95:102289. ↗
  5. McMillan TR, Forster MAM, Short LI, Rudecki AP, Cline DL, Gray SL. Melanotan II, a melanocortin agonist, partially rescues the impaired thermogenic capacity of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide deficient mice. Experimental Physiology. 2021;106(2):427-437. ↗
  6. Raposinho PD, White RB, Aubert ML. The melanocortin agonist Melanotan-II reduces the orexigenic and adipogenic effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY) but does not affect the NPY-driven suppressive effects on the gonadotropic and somatotropic axes in the male rat. Journal of Neuroendocrinology. 2003;15(2):173-81. ↗
  7. Ter Laak MP, Brakkee JH, Adan RA, Hamers FP, Gispen WH. The potent melanocortin receptor agonist melanotan-II promotes peripheral nerve regeneration and has neuroprotective properties in the rat. European Journal of Pharmacology. 2003;462(1-3):179-83. ↗
  8. Strader AD, Shi H, Ogawa R, Seeley RJ, Reizes O. The effects of the melanocortin agonist (MT-II) on subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue in rodents. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2007;322(3):1153-61. ↗
  9. Nelson ME, Bryant SM, Aks SE. Melanotan II injection resulting in systemic toxicity and rhabdomyolysis. Clinical Toxicology (Philadelphia). 2012;50(10):1169-73. ↗
  10. Devlin J, Pomerleau A, Foote J. Melanotan II overdose associated with priapism. Clinical Toxicology (Philadelphia). 2013;51(4):383. ↗
  11. Mallory CW, Lopategui DM, Cordon BH. Melanotan Tanning Injection: A Rare Cause of Priapism. Sexual Medicine. 2021;9(1):100298. ↗
  12. Hjuler KF, Lorentzen HF. Melanoma associated with the use of melanotan-II. Dermatology. 2014;228(1):34-6. ↗
  13. Eruptive dysplastic nevi after melanotan use [JAAD correspondence]. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2013. ↗
  14. Bonchev A. Changes in Oral Mucosa Associated with Melanotan II Injections: A Case Report. Life (Basel). 2026;16(2):265. ↗
  15. Inozemtseva LS, Yatsenko KA, Glazova NYu, Kamensky AA, Myasoedov NF, Levitskaya NG, Grivennikov IA, Dolotov OV. Antidepressant-like and antistress effects of the ACTH(4-10) synthetic analogs Semax and Melanotan II on male rats in a model of chronic unpredictable stress. European Journal of Pharmacology. 2024;983:177068. ↗
  16. Gilhooley E, Daly S, McKenna D. Melanotan II User Experience: A Qualitative Study of Online Discussion Forums. Dermatology. 2021;237(6):995-999. ↗
  17. King SH, Mayorov AV, Balse-Srinivasan P, Hruby VJ, Vanderah TW, Wessells H. Melanocortin Receptors, Melanotropic Peptides and Penile Erection. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry. 2007;7(11):1098-1106. ↗
  18. Peters L, Hadimeri H, et al. Melanotan II: a possible cause of renal infarction: review of the literature and case report. CEN Case Reports. 2020. ↗
  19. McKenzie N, Gonzalez N, Huang C, Barzallo D, Ware O, Leslie K. User experiences of Melanotan II injection for tanning. British Journal of Dermatology. 2024;191(Supplement_1):i179. ↗
  20. O'Mahony S, Connolly A, Collins A, Alhunay T, Edgar K, Hynes M, Tobin AM. A systematic review of social media and Melanotan, the 'Barbie drug'. British Journal of Dermatology. 2024;191(Supplement_1):i72. ↗
  21. Beliefs, Attitudes, and Experiences of Individuals using Melanotan II [JAAD abstract]. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2025. ↗
  22. Paurobally D, Jason F, Dezfoulian B, Nikkels AF. Melanotan-associated melanoma. British Journal of Dermatology. 2011;165(2):477-8. ↗
  23. Habbema L, et al. Melanotan-induced priapism: a hard-earned tan. BMJ Case Reports. 2019;12(2):bcr-2018-227644. ↗
  24. Kaski D, Stafford N, Mehta A, Jenkins IH, Malhotra P. Melanotan and the posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2013;158(9):706. ↗
  25. Breindahl T, Evans-Brown M, Hindersson P, McVeigh J, Bellis M, Stensballe A, Kimergård A. Identification and characterization by LC-UV-MS/MS of melanotan II skin-tanning products sold illegally on the Internet. Drug Testing and Analysis. 2015;7(3):250-61. ↗
  26. Habbema L, Halk AB, Neumann M, Bergman W. Risks of unregulated use of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogues: a review. International Journal of Dermatology. 2017;56(10):975-980. ↗
  27. Hadley ME, Dorr RT. Melanocortin peptide therapeutics: historical milestones, clinical studies and commercialization. Peptides. 2006;27(4):921-30. ↗