Melanotan I
What do these badges mean?
Evidence tier
- AHuman-validated — Human trials showing positive results and good safety.
- BAnimal-grade — No human trials yet, but solid animal/preclinical evidence of effect and safety.
- CAnecdotal — No human or animal trials — only anecdotal/observational reports.
- DInsufficient evidence — No or insufficient evidence (encyclopedia only — never recommended by the builder).
Safety light
- 🟢 Green — Only mild, manageable side effects; reasonable safety data.
- 🟡 Yellow — Needs active management, has a meaningful contraindication/interaction, or has thin long-term data.
- 🔴 Red — Risk of a hospital-level event — treat with serious caution.
What is it?
There are two molecules called “Melanotan,” and confusing them is the single most common mistake in this corner of peptides. Here’s the clean split:
- Melanotan I (afamelanotide, brand SCENESSE) — this page. A 13-amino-acid linear analog of α-MSH (the body’s own melanocyte-stimulating hormone), relatively selective for the MC1R “tanning” receptor. It’s an FDA-approved drug, delivered as a clinician-placed implant for a rare light-sensitivity condition.
- Melanotan II (MT-II) — a cyclic, non-selective melanocortin agonist that hits MC1R plus MC3R/MC4R/MC5R, which is why it also drives libido, appetite suppression, nausea, and erections.
The practical headline: same tanning pathway, much narrower footprint. Melanotan I’s selectivity is exactly why it made it through clinical trials to FDA approval while MT-II never did. The full chemical name you’ll see is [Nle4-D-Phe7]-α-MSH (NDP-MSH) — two amino-acid swaps that make α-MSH potent and metabolically stable.
What does it do in my body?
Melanotan I is a selective MC1R agonist. When it binds MC1R on your melanocytes, those cells ramp up production of eumelanin — the brown/black pigment that’s the protective form of melanin: and they do it independent of UV exposure. Normally you need sunlight to trigger this; Melanotan I triggers it pharmacologically, so pigment develops with little or no sun.
Eumelanin isn’t just color. It absorbs and scatters UV and visible light and mops up the reactive oxygen species that light generates in skin. That’s why the approved use is photoprotection: in erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), sunlight triggers a painful phototoxic reaction, and more eumelanin raises the light threshold before the pain starts.
The difference from MT-II comes down to receptor selectivity. MT-II is a shotgun across the melanocortin receptor family (MC1R–MC5R); the MC3R/MC4R hits are what produce its libido, appetite, nausea, yawning, and priapism effects. Melanotan I is comparatively focused on MC1R, so it largely skips that off-target package — you get the pigment without most of the rest.
How can it help me?
- Best fit: Melanocortin-driven tanning/photoprotection with a cleaner side-effect profile than MT-II; the molecule behind the FDA-approved EPP photoprotection drug
- Where the science stands: FDA-approved (2019, SCENESSE) on Phase 3 RCT data + human PK/pigmentation studies
The full evidence — every human, animal, and lab study, graded — is one tap away: use the See the deeper science → toggle at the top.
Is it dangerous? What are the side effects?
Melanotan I’s selectivity is the story here: it’s meaningfully better tolerated than MT-II because it largely skips the MC3R/MC4R receptors that drive MT-II’s nausea, appetite, erection, and priapism effects.
- Common / mild (approved-implant profile): implant-site reactions, headache, fatigue, and nausea at a much lower rate than MT-II. Mild skin darkening and new freckling are expected — that’s the drug working.
- Skin/mole changes: the one to watch. Melanotan I stimulates all melanocytes, including those in existing moles. So although there’s no melanoma-screening urgency at the MT-II level, a baseline skin/mole check and periodic monitoring is the sensible practice — and it’s exactly what EPP patients do under clinical supervision. Anyone using gray-market MT-I powder without a clinician should adopt the same habit themselves.
- No priapism signal and minimal libido/appetite effect — the MC1R selectivity is why. This is the clean contrast to MT-II’s profile.
The honest framing: this is the milder, cleaner melanocortin tanner. The main residual caution is the shared melanocyte-stimulation biology (mole monitoring), plus the usual gray-market caveat below.
The supply-chain caveat. “MT-I” sold as research powder carries the standard identity/purity risk — and MT-I and MT-II are routinely confused and mislabeled. A buyer of unverified powder genuinely can’t be sure which molecule (or what purity) is in the vial. With melanocortins, identity verification is the whole game.
Regulatory status:
- Melanotan I / afamelanotide (SCENESSE): FDA-approved October 8, 2019 to increase pain-free light exposure in adults with a history of phototoxic reactions from erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP); delivered as a clinician-placed 16 mg implant every 2 months. EU-approved 2014 for the same indication. Not approved for cosmetic tanning anywhere.
- Research-grade MT-I powder: unapproved, sold research-use-only, and (per directory sources) not eligible for compounding. Those are the regulatory facts, stated plainly — the approved implant and the gray-market powder are the same molecule but very different products and legal statuses.
Part 1 — How to reconstitute it
What's used: bacteriostatic water (sterile, preserved water the powder is mixed with) and a separate, larger reconstitution syringe used only for mixing — not the small syringe used for administration.
The exact bacteriostatic-water volume and resulting concentration for Melanotan I are covered in the dosing notes and the deeper-science view. The right volume depends on the vial size.
How it's mixed
- The vial is tilted and the bacteriostatic water is added slowly down the inside glass wall — not squirted straight onto the powder.
- It is swirled gently to dissolve. It is never shaken — shaking can damage the peptide.
- The reconstituted vial is stored refrigerated and out of light.
- Reconstituted peptides are commonly used within a few weeks, inside the beyond-use window the source specifies — that window varies by peptide.
The free reconstitution calculator does the concentration math for any vial size and water volume, including the equivalent units on an insulin syringe.
Part 2 — Typical dosing
Educational context only — talk to a licensed medical provider before any protocol. What follows describes the doses and schedules most commonly reported in the research and by practitioners, shared so you can have an informed conversation. These compounds are sold for research use only, are not FDA-approved drugs, and this is not medical advice.
Administration as reported. Reported practice is subcutaneous administration (into the fat just under the skin) using a 0.3 mL U-100 insulin syringe, with sites rotated.
The approved form (SCENESSE / afamelanotide): a single bioresorbable 16 mg implant, placed subcutaneously by a clinician above the anterior supra-iliac crest (hip), every 2 months, for EPP photoprotection. This is a clinician-administered drug, not a self-injected one.
The gray-market / research-powder form (off-label tanning): MT-I is sold as lyophilized powder and reconstituted with bacteriostatic water like other peptides, then injected subcutaneously. Because oral MT-I isn’t absorbed, SC is the route. There’s no standardized cosmetic protocol the way there is for MT-II; community use mirrors the MT-II low-and-slow pattern (small SC microdoses to build pigment, then taper to maintenance), with some light exposure to develop the tan.
Practical notes from the PK data. Pigment builds over days and peaks about a week after dosing, then persists for weeks — so this is a build-and-maintain compound, not an on-demand one. Reconstituted peptide is stored refrigerated.
Turning milligrams into syringe units. On a U-100 syringe, 100 units = 1 mL, so 1 unit = 0.01 mL. At a concentration of C mg/mL, a dose of D mg = D ÷ C mL = (D ÷ C) × 100 units. Example: at 5 mg/mL, a 0.5 mg dose = 0.1 mL = 10 units. The exact units depend on the vial's mg and the water volume used.
What should I avoid combining — and what's synergistic?
Melanotan I doesn't have a dedicated stacking protocol in our notes — the interactions that matter most are in the safety section above. For how people combine it with other peptides, the deeper-science view has the full detail.
Where do people source this?
OHM does not sell or handle any compound. Research-use-only material is sold by third-party vendors; our vetting notes and disclosures are on the Where to buy page. If you'd rather have a physician in the loop, see the telehealth option. Whatever the route, the supply chain is the real risk: only consider vendors that publish batch-level third-party Certificates of Analysis.
Melanotan I is the other melanotan — and it’s the one that actually carries an FDA approval. It’s a selective MC1R agonist that tells your skin to make protective brown pigment with little or no sun, and as the implant SCENESSE (afamelanotide) it’s an approved drug (2019) for a rare light-sensitivity disease. Because it’s selective for the “tanning” receptor and skips the receptors that drive Melanotan II’s libido, appetite, nausea and priapism effects, it’s a cleaner, better-tolerated molecule than its non-selective cousin Melanotan II (MT-II). This page covers Melanotan I specifically — what it is, how it works, the real trial data, the protocol, the side effects, and the regulatory facts.
| Best fit | Melanocortin-driven tanning/photoprotection with a cleaner side-effect profile than MT-II; the molecule behind the FDA-approved EPP photoprotection drug |
| Evidence base | FDA-approved (2019, SCENESSE) on Phase 3 RCT data + human PK/pigmentation studies |
| Typical use | Approved: clinician-placed 16 mg implant every 2 months (EPP). Gray-market powder: reconstituted SC injection for tanning (off-label, unapproved) |
| Safety | Yellow — well-tolerated and MC1R-selective (far milder than MT-II), but still a melanocyte stimulant, so mole monitoring is prudent |
| Regulatory | FDA-approved 2019 as SCENESSE (afamelanotide) for erythropoietic protoporphyria; the research-powder form is unapproved/research-use-only |
What it is
There are two molecules called “Melanotan,” and confusing them is the single most common mistake in this corner of peptides. Here’s the clean split:
- Melanotan I (afamelanotide, brand SCENESSE) — this page. A 13-amino-acid linear analog of α-MSH (the body’s own melanocyte-stimulating hormone), relatively selective for the MC1R “tanning” receptor. It’s an FDA-approved drug, delivered as a clinician-placed implant for a rare light-sensitivity condition.
- Melanotan II (MT-II) — a cyclic, non-selective melanocortin agonist that hits MC1R plus MC3R/MC4R/MC5R, which is why it also drives libido, appetite suppression, nausea, and erections.
The practical headline: same tanning pathway, much narrower footprint. Melanotan I’s selectivity is exactly why it made it through clinical trials to FDA approval while MT-II never did. The full chemical name you’ll see is [Nle4-D-Phe7]-α-MSH (NDP-MSH) — two amino-acid swaps that make α-MSH potent and metabolically stable.
How it works
Melanotan I is a selective MC1R agonist. When it binds MC1R on your melanocytes, those cells ramp up production of eumelanin — the brown/black pigment that’s the protective form of melanin: and they do it independent of UV exposure. Normally you need sunlight to trigger this; Melanotan I triggers it pharmacologically, so pigment develops with little or no sun.
Eumelanin isn’t just color. It absorbs and scatters UV and visible light and mops up the reactive oxygen species that light generates in skin. That’s why the approved use is photoprotection: in erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), sunlight triggers a painful phototoxic reaction, and more eumelanin raises the light threshold before the pain starts.
The difference from MT-II comes down to receptor selectivity. MT-II is a shotgun across the melanocortin receptor family (MC1R–MC5R); the MC3R/MC4R hits are what produce its libido, appetite, nausea, yawning, and priapism effects. Melanotan I is comparatively focused on MC1R, so it largely skips that off-target package — you get the pigment without most of the rest.
What the research shows
Unlike MT-II — whose human dataset is two small, decades-old studies — Melanotan I has approval-grade evidence behind it, because the pharma program (Clinuvel) actually ran it to the finish line.
** Phase 3: the approval data (Langendonk 2015).** Two randomized, placebo-controlled trials (a European and a US trial) tested the afamelanotide implant every 60 days against placebo in EPP patients. Afamelanotide significantly increased the duration of pain-free sun exposure and improved quality of life, with an acceptable adverse-event profile. The FDA pivotal readout: over 180 days, median 64 pain-free sunlight hours on drug vs 41 on placebo — the basis for the 2019 approval.
** Pharmacokinetics + pigmentation (Ugwu 1997).** In a 3-subject IV/oral/SC crossover, the subcutaneous dose was completely bioavailable (equivalent to IV), while the oral dose wasn’t absorbed at all (no detectable drug). Plasma β-phase half-life was short (~0.8–1.7 h). Visible tanning of the forehead, arms and neck peaked about a week after dosing and was still present ~3 weeks after the regimen ended. This is the study that established MT-I tans the skin and that the SC route works.
** Eumelanin induction (Dorr 2000).** A human study reported a 49–98% increase in skin eumelanin content after a two-week MT-I course — direct confirmation that the pigment being made is the protective eumelanin, not just surface color.
** Broader photoprotection context.** Reviews place afamelanotide’s photoprotective potential across photosensitivity disorders and as a research candidate for nonmelanoma skin-cancer prevention.
Long-term safety record. Afamelanotide has a multi-year post-approval and observational safety record in EPP under clinical supervision — durable quality-of-life and light-tolerance benefit, no serious drug-related adverse events in the long-term cohorts, including a 2026 Austrian EPP cohort.
Where it stands: Melanotan I is the well-trialed melanocortin tanning agent. Its evidence base is an FDA approval built on Phase 3 RCTs — a different universe from MT-II’s thin, old human dataset. The catch is that the approved evidence is all in the photoprotection (EPP) setting via the implant; cosmetic tanning with research-grade MT-I powder rides on the same biology but is off-label and unapproved.
Real-world protocol
The doses and schedules here are for educational and informational purposes only. The approved implant is a prescription drug; the research-grade powder is sold for research use only and is not an FDA-approved drug. This is not medical advice. Consult a qualified physician before beginning any protocol.
The approved form (SCENESSE / afamelanotide): a single bioresorbable 16 mg implant, placed subcutaneously by a clinician above the anterior supra-iliac crest (hip), every 2 months, for EPP photoprotection. This is a clinician-administered drug, not a self-injected one.
The gray-market / research-powder form (off-label tanning): MT-I is sold as lyophilized powder and reconstituted with bacteriostatic water like other peptides, then injected subcutaneously. Because oral MT-I isn’t absorbed, SC is the route. There’s no standardized cosmetic protocol the way there is for MT-II; community use mirrors the MT-II low-and-slow pattern (small SC microdoses to build pigment, then taper to maintenance), with some light exposure to develop the tan.
Practical notes from the PK data. Pigment builds over days and peaks about a week after dosing, then persists for weeks — so this is a build-and-maintain compound, not an on-demand one. Reconstituted peptide is stored refrigerated.
Side effects & management
Melanotan I’s selectivity is the story here: it’s meaningfully better tolerated than MT-II because it largely skips the MC3R/MC4R receptors that drive MT-II’s nausea, appetite, erection, and priapism effects.
- Common / mild (approved-implant profile): implant-site reactions, headache, fatigue, and nausea at a much lower rate than MT-II. Mild skin darkening and new freckling are expected — that’s the drug working.
- Skin/mole changes: the one to watch. Melanotan I stimulates all melanocytes, including those in existing moles. So although there’s no melanoma-screening urgency at the MT-II level, a baseline skin/mole check and periodic monitoring is the sensible practice — and it’s exactly what EPP patients do under clinical supervision. Anyone using gray-market MT-I powder without a clinician should adopt the same habit themselves.
- No priapism signal and minimal libido/appetite effect — the MC1R selectivity is why. This is the clean contrast to MT-II’s profile.
The honest framing: this is the milder, cleaner melanocortin tanner. The main residual caution is the shared melanocyte-stimulation biology (mole monitoring), plus the usual gray-market caveat below.
The supply-chain caveat. “MT-I” sold as research powder carries the standard identity/purity risk — and MT-I and MT-II are routinely confused and mislabeled. A buyer of unverified powder genuinely can’t be sure which molecule (or what purity) is in the vial. With melanocortins, identity verification is the whole game.
Regulatory status
- Melanotan I / afamelanotide (SCENESSE): FDA-approved October 8, 2019 to increase pain-free light exposure in adults with a history of phototoxic reactions from erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP); delivered as a clinician-placed 16 mg implant every 2 months. EU-approved 2014 for the same indication. Not approved for cosmetic tanning anywhere.
- Research-grade MT-I powder: unapproved, sold research-use-only, and (per directory sources) not eligible for compounding. Those are the regulatory facts, stated plainly — the approved implant and the gray-market powder are the same molecule but very different products and legal statuses.
Technical & analytical reference (chemistry & QC)
Molecular identity verified against PubChem (2026-06-23). MT-1 (afamelanotide; Scenesse) is a synthetic linear tridecapeptide α-MSH analog. Distinct molecule from Melanotan-2 (MT-2) — see Melanotan II for the MT-2 chemistry and the safety contrast.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Molecular formula | C₇₈H₁₁₁N₂₁O₁₉ (PubChem CID 16197727) |
| Average MW | 1646.84 g/mol |
| CAS | 75921-69-6 |
| Sequence | Ac-Ser-Tyr-Ser-Nle-Glu-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Gly-Lys-Pro-Val-NH₂ (13-mer; [Nle⁴, D-Phe⁷]-α-MSH; N-terminal acetylation + C-terminal amide; the Nle⁴ and D-Phe⁷ substitutions are what extend half-life vs native α-MSH) |
| Class | Synthetic α-MSH analog (melanocortin agonist; broadly affinity for MC1R/MC3R/MC4R/MC5R, MC1R drives the eumelanin-induction effect) |
| HPLC purity criterion | RP-HPLC (C18, ACN/water + TFA), UV 220 nm; pharma-grade ≥98% (USP monograph for clinical-grade material) |
| MS identity | ESI-MS [M+H]⁺ m/z 1647.8; ESI-MS [M+2H]²⁺ m/z 824.4; HRMS <5 ppm |
| Counterion / net peptide | Acetate (clinical) or TFA (research); peptide content ≥80% by Karl Fischer + counterion analysis. Chiral verification of D-Phe⁷ is the QC failure-mode-critical element — gray-market material made with L-Phe instead of D-Phe loses metabolic stability |
| Storage / reconstitution | Lyophilized −20 °C, desiccated; reconstituted in bacteriostatic water 2–8 °C, ~28 days. The clinical Scenesse product is a sustained-release implant (16 mg), not an injectable solution |
| Degradation / stability | N-terminal acetyl + C-terminal amide + Nle⁴ + D-Phe⁷ modifications confer strong protease resistance. Main solution-state degradation: Met-style oxidation (avoided — no Met present; Trp is the relevant oxidation-sensitive residue), aspartate isomerization at acidic pH |
Primary references: Langendonk et al. NEJM 2015 (PMID 26132941) — Phase 3 RCT for EPP, the basis for FDA approval; Ugwu et al. 1997 (PMID 9113347) — original SC bioavailability + skin pigmentation human PK; PubChem CID 16197727.
Sources
- 26132941 — Langendonk et al. 2015, NEJM — Phase 3 RCT, afamelanotide for EPP (approval-grade data)
- 9113347 — Ugwu et al. 1997, Biopharm Drug Dispos — MT-I skin pigmentation + pharmacokinetics in humans (SC fully bioavailable; tan peaks ~1 wk, persists ~3 wk)
- 11045725 — Dorr et al. 2000, Photochem Photobiol — eumelanin induction (49–98%)
- 20545686 — Langan et al. 2010, Br J Dermatol — melanotropic peptides / afamelanotide photoprotection review
- 25096243 — Ückert et al. 2014 — melanocortin agonists in sexual dysfunction (context for MT-I’s minimal sexual effect)
- PMIDs 28063031, 28003770, 37181106, 41793078 — afamelanotide long-term safety/effectiveness cohorts in EPP
- FDA — SCENESSE (afamelanotide) approval (2019-10-08); 16 mg implant q2 months; MC1R-selective; 64 vs 41 pain-free sun hours — https://www.drugs.com/history/scenesse.html
- Raw:;; cross-curated afamelanotide citations on
wiki/melanotan.md
Sources & references
- 26132941 — Langendonk et al. 2015, NEJM — Phase 3 RCT, afamelanotide for EPP (approval-grade data)
- 9113347 — Ugwu et al. 1997, Biopharm Drug Dispos — MT-I skin pigmentation + pharmacokinetics in humans (SC fully bioavailable; tan peaks ~1 wk, persists ~3 wk)
- 11045725 — Dorr et al. 2000, Photochem Photobiol — eumelanin induction (49–98%)
- 20545686 — Langan et al. 2010, Br J Dermatol — melanotropic peptides / afamelanotide photoprotection review
- 25096243 — Ückert et al. 2014 — melanocortin agonists in sexual dysfunction (context for MT-I’s minimal sexual effect)
- PMIDs 28063031, 28003770, 37181106, 41793078 — afamelanotide long-term safety/effectiveness cohorts in EPP
- FDA — SCENESSE (afamelanotide) approval (2019-10-08); 16 mg implant q2 months; MC1R-selective; 64 vs 41 pain-free sun hours — https://www.drugs.com/history/scenesse.html
- Raw:;; cross-curated afamelanotide citations on
wiki/melanotan.md
Community experience reports
Anecdotal — real-world reports from the peptide community, not clinical evidence. Presented alongside the graded science above, not as a substitute for it.
Companion raw digest: Evidence tier: throughout Last updated: 2026-07-10 Cross-refs:
*melanotan-2*·[PT-141](/peptides/pt-141/)
Who reports the strongest results
Two populations with strong, consistent results:
-
Fair-skinned users who normally only burn — MT-I “unlocks tanning” for users who genetically struggle to produce melanin with UV exposure alone.
-
People managing photosensitivity conditions — particularly PMLE (polymorphic light eruption) and related sun-sensitivity disorders. MT-I is FDA-approved as Scenesse for EPP (erythropoietic protoporphyria); the PMLE community uses it off-label with similar logic.
What the community actually says
MT-I vs MT-II — the key distinction
The community distinguishes these two sharply:
| Melanotan I | Melanotan II | |
|---|---|---|
| Receptor selectivity | MC1R selective | MC1R + MC3R + MC4R |
| Tan speed | 18–28 days | 7–12 days |
| Tan color | Natural, gradual | Deep, fast |
| Sexual effects | None | Pronounced (erections, libido) |
| Nausea incidence | Mild | Significant (50–90%) |
| Completion rate | ~90% | ~35% |
| Safety profile | Cleaner | More complex |
Community recommendation: MT-I for cosmetic tanning with safety prioritized, no sexual effects desired, or for women. MT-II for the fastest and darkest result when sexual effects are acceptable or desired.
The tanning experience
- Tan develops gradually with UV exposure over 18–28 days — UV exposure is required; MT-I does not tan without light
- Users describe achieving tans they’ve never been able to achieve naturally — “I tanned for the first time in my life” is a recurring account from fair/red-headed users
- Natural-looking color described as the key aesthetic advantage over MT-II’s sometimes “orange” or artificial appearance
- Reduced burning with the same UV exposure — the increased melanin provides some natural photoprotection
No sexual side effects — the defining advantage
For many community members, this is the entire reason to choose MT-I over MT-II. No spontaneous erections, no libido changes, no unwanted sexual activation. Particularly relevant for women users and for anyone who found MT-II’s sexual effects unwanted.
Protocol as used by the community
Loading: 250 mcg SubQ every 2–3 days for 2–4 weeks, with UV exposure 2–3 hours post-injection
Maintenance: 250–500 mcg every 5–7 days once tan established; continue with UV exposure
UV requirement: 15–20 minutes of natural sunlight or tanning bed 2–3 hours after injection is the typical protocol. Without UV, minimal melanin production.
Mole monitoring: Photograph all existing moles before starting; check monthly during use. Moles darken with melanocyte stimulation — this is expected and consistent. The monitoring is about change in shape/border/color pattern, not just darkening.
Side effects
Mild profile — milder than MT-II across all categories.
- Nausea — present but milder than MT-II; early; dose-dependent; manageable
- Flushing — common; mild; early
- Fatigue — early; typically resolves
- Mole darkening — universal; expected; not a side effect per se, but important to document
- No sexual effects at standard doses
PMLE / photosensitivity application (Kim Pratt account)
Kim Pratt’s documented protocol for managing PMLE: gradual UV introduction (starting with very short exposures) combined with MT-I coverage. Result: meaningful reduction in PMLE flare frequency and improved outdoor tolerance. This account circulates in photosensitivity communities as a reference for off-label MT-I use.
Cross-references
*melanotan-2*— the faster, deeper, more complex alternative[PT-141](/peptides/pt-141/)— the sexual-desire peptide for users who want melanocortin-pathway effects without tanning