Melanotan I

Mechanism

Selective MC1R agonist affecting eumelanin synthesis and DNA-repair signaling.

Reported effects

What sources associate with this compound. Reported categories, not outcomes we have graded — each would need its own citation and rung.

• UV-independent tanning research
• Photoprotection
• DNA-repair support

Figures

Every figure below is replotted by this site from values published in the cited paper's text or tables — the numbers are the study's, the drawing is ours, and the evidence rung on each image is the rung of its source.

Reconstitution

mass ÷ diluent = concentration; dose ÷ concentration = volume; volume × the syringe factor = units on the barrel (100 for U-100, 40 for U-40). Run your own numbers.

Half-life, storage & sport

Elimination half-life

15 hr (human, SC) — study. SCENESSE FDA prescribing information, clinical pharmacology.

The half-life on file is 15 h, measured subcutaneously. On the schedule this record states — twice a week — each dose has fallen to 2.1% of its own peak by the time the next is given. Nothing accumulates, and there is no loading phase to run.

The rise is not modelled and the axis is not a blood level. No absorption rate constant and no volume of distribution are on file, so each dose appears at full height the instant it is given, and the axis is percent of this compound's own peak.

Literature on file 8

• human RCT
  Afamelanotide for Erythropoietic Protoporphyria (New England Journal of Medicine 2015, cited 259x) graded on: names a randomised controlled trial — the indexed publication type — “Randomized Controlled”
• human RCT
  Afamelanotide and Narrowband UV-B Phototherapy for the Treatment of Vitiligo (JAMA Dermatology 2015, cited 165x) graded on: names a randomised controlled trial — the indexed publication type — “Randomized Controlled”
• review or editorial
  Insights into Tanning Biology and Tanning Products. graded on: indexed as "review-article" - secondary literature, not a study — “review-article”
• review or editorial
  Journey through the spectacular landscape of melanocortin 1 receptor. graded on: indexed as "Review" - secondary literature, not a study — “Review”
• review or editorial
  Melanocortin 1 Receptor (MC1R): Pharmacological and Therapeutic Aspects. graded on: indexed as "review-article" - secondary literature, not a study — “review-article”
• animal in vivo
  Effects of the central melanocortin system on feed intake, metabolic hormones and insulin action in the sheep. graded on: an animal model — “sheep”
• human RCT
  FDA approval NDA210797 graded on: an FDA approval (NDA210797), which requires adequate and well-controlled human investigations — “NDA210797”

Not graded

1 citation whose study design could not be read from the title. Left ungraded rather than guessed at.

• not graded
  A single-centre, prospective, qualitative analysis of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of sunbed use among patients attending a pigmented lesion clinic in a tertiary referral centre.

What is circulated not evidence 4

Claims passed around in community guides and vendor copy, recorded because they circulate — not because they are true. Each is shown with the page it was read from and what this record actually holds. Checked 2026-08-24.

• unverified community data titration common nothing on file either way

  A two-phase tanning protocol — roughly 50 mcg daily to load, then 250 mcg twice weekly to maintain — circulates as the community standard.

  ~50 mcg (1 unit) daily, ~7 days or until color

  On the record The corpus dosing row holds 500-1000 mcg twice weekly (raw: "500-1000 mcg 2x/week"), verified: false. The circulated loading dose is an order of magnitude below the corpus row and the phase structure has no study behind it; the approved product (SCENESSE, NDA210797) is a 16 mg implant for EPP, not an injection protocol for tanning.

  Source 1

• unverified community data timing common nothing on file either way

  It is circulated that daily UV exposure during loading is necessary for the melanin response — the peptide alone will not tan.

  15–30 minutes of daily UV exposure during loading as necessary for melanin response

  On the record Nothing on file. The corpus records photoprotection and UV-independent tanning research as the study context; no record addresses whether cosmetic tanning at community doses requires UV exposure.

  Source 1

• unverified community data timing occasional nothing on file either way

  An 8-weeks-on, 8-weeks-off cycle is circulated as the standard pattern.

  8 weeks on, 8 weeks off, with loading over 2-4 weeks to build melanin, then maintenance

  On the record The corpus dosing row holds a 2-8 week cycle range, verified: false. No study of cycling for cosmetic use is on file.

  Source 1

• unverified community data side effect common nothing on file either way

  It is circulated that melanotan I causes no nausea and no libido effects at standard doses, unlike melanotan II, because it does not meaningfully activate MC4R.

  No nausea/vomiting at standard doses (MT-1 doesn't significantly activate MC4R)

  On the record The corpus mechanism row records melanotan I as a selective MC1R agonist, which is consistent with the receptor part of the claim. The corpus side-effect list for melanotan I is empty — the absence of recorded nausea is a gap in the record, not a finding of no nausea, so the circulated flat safety comparison overstates what is on file.

  Source 1

Identity

PubChem CID 16197727 computed 3D conformer

Skeletal formulathe canonical depiction

Drawn by PubChem from CID 16197727, the identifier on this record.

Molecular weight

1646.8

Molecular formula

C78H111N21O19

CAS number

75921-69-6

PubChem CID

16197727

InChI key

UAHFGYDRQSXQEB-LEBBXHLNSA-N

Sequence

SYSXEHFRWGKPV

SMILES

CCCC[C@@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(=O)O)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC1=CN=CN1)C(=O)N[C@H](CC2=CC=CC=C2)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCCNC(=N)N)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC3=CNC4=CC=CC=C43)C(=O)NCC(=O)N[C@@H](CCCCN)C(=O)N5CCC[C@H]5C(=O)N[C@@H](C(C)C)C(=O)N)NC(=O)[C@H](CO)NC(=O)[C@H](CC6=CC=C(C=C6)O)NC(=O)[C@H](CO)NC(=O)C

InChI

InChI=1S/C78H111N21O19/c1-5-6-19-52(91-75(116)61(41-101)97-72(113)57(34-46-24-26-49(103)27-25-46)94-74(115)60(40-100)88-44(4)102)68(109)92-54(28-29-64(105)106)70(111)96-59(36-48-38-83-42-87-48)73(114)93-56(33-45-16-8-7-9-17-45)71(112)90-53(22-14-31-84-78(81)82)69(110)95-58(35-47-37-85-51-20-11-10-18-50(47)51)67(108)86-39-63(104)89-55(21-12-13-30-79)77(118)99-32-15-23-62(99)76(117)98-65(43(2)3)66(80)107/h7-11,16-18,20,24-27,37-38,42-43,52-62,65,85,100-101,103H,5-6,12-15,19,21-23,28-36,39-41,79H2,1-4H3,(H2,80,107)(H,83,87)(H,86,108)(H,88,102)(H,89,104)(H,90,112)(H,91,116)(H,92,109)(H,93,114)(H,94,115)(H,95,110)(H,96,111)(H,97,113)(H,98,117)(H,105,106)(H4,81,82,84)/t52-,53-,54-,55-,56+,57-,58-,59-,60-,61-,62-,65-/m0/s1

Classified as

Subcutaneousroute

This is the route the reconstitution arithmetic assumes. Mass divided by diluent volume gives concentration, dose divided by concentration gives volume, and volume in mL multiplied by 100 gives units on a U-100 barrel: 5 mg in 2 mL is 2.5 mg/mL, and 0.25 mg comes out at 0.1 mL, which is 10 units.

Also called

• Melanotan I
• Afamelanotide (Melanotan I)
• melanotan
• melanotan 1
• melanotan 1 mt 1
• mt 1

Listed prices 107

What 90 shops we track listed for Melanotan I, read from their own public catalogues on 2026-09-14. We take no commission on these and they are not ranked by any payment — how vendors are scored.

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