1. What Is Melanotan 2?
Melanotan 2 is a synthetic derivative of human alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and an evolution of the original melanotan peptide that was developed at the University of Arizona in the 1980s. Melanotan was developed as an artificial tanning agent in the hopes that it would reduce skin cancer due to UV exposure without the side effects associated with current UV blockers (sunblock). As it turns out, melanotan was pivotal in launching an entirely new branch of human receptor science that has led to a new understanding of everything from hunger and sexual arousal to compulsive behavior and even autism. Melanotan 2 has been shown in animal studies to
- increase sexual arousal,
- boost tanning or skin pigmentation,
- reduce compulsive and addictive behavior,
- alter hunger as a result of leptin signaling,
- reduce glucagon production,
- reverse features of autism, and
- improve cardiac function in specific settings.
2. Melanocortin 2 Dosage and Format
Melanocortin 2 is a primarily and injected peptide, though oral forms are available. The peptide does not stand up well to the human gastrointestinal tract, so it is primarily used parenterally. A modified form of melanotan 2 was investigated as an inhalant, but that format has primarily been abandoned. In animal studies, MT2 dosage has ranged from 10 ng/h via continuous infusion (total of 240 ng in a day) to as much as 1 microgram in a day. In general, very low doses of melanotan 2 peptides have relatively profound effects. Research protocols should start with dosage studies that look to find the minimum and/or optimal dose for achieving effects while balancing against potential confounding effects that occur at higher doses and greater receptor saturation.
3. Melanotan 2 Benefits: Does MT2 Really Work?
Melanotan 2 is actually a complex peptide with a number of functions. The first real interest in this peptide arose in the early 1980s when the original melanotan was developed as a potential sunless tanning agent. Melanotan 2 tanning works by activating melanocytes in the skin, the same cells that are responsible for tanning and skin darkening in response to UV exposure. The thought was that melanotan 2 tanning could be achieved without exposure to the harmful DNA damaging effects of UV light. This turned out to be true, but was only part of a more complicated story. Because of the way the melanocortin system works, stimulating melanotan 2 tanning without any other effects is a very dose-dependent endeavor. In fact, the dosing protocol proved so complicated for the average person to adhere to that attempt to develop the peptide for commercial use were abandoned. Since the early days of melanotan 2 investigations, however, the peptide has been found to have a number of benefits in animal trials. Research shows that melanotan 2 can have profound effects on behavior, cardiac function, and sexual arousal. In the case of behavior, research reveals that melanotan 2 can help to reduce compulsive tendencies. While this is of great utility in the setting of addiction, craving, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, there is also evidence to suggest that such behavior and that ability to modify it may be important in autism. Research in mice shows that administration of MT2 can reduce autism spectrum disorder (ASD) behavior to increase communication, boost social interaction, and reduce repetitive motor ticks. This finding has spurred a great deal of research into the potential benefits that melanocortin agonists might have on everything from ASD to OCD and even addiction. This is one of the most active areas of MT2 research to date. MT2 is also a potent erectile dysfunction treatment. Most erectile dysfunction is attributed to vascular issues, but an increasing body of research is showing that behavioral and psychological components contribute as well. Up to 80% of men who do not respond to Viagra do respond to MT2 treatment. In addition, the peptide appears to increase arousal in women as well. There is good evidence that melanotan II has a central effect on arousal that can potentiate an erection or enhance sexual desire. Simply put, melanotan 2 is both a legitimate drug candidate in its own right and a potent tool for probing a little understood melanocortin signaling system. It is helping researchers to reveal the intricacies of everything from leptin signaling to the function of the amygdala in the brain. Future research will likely yield important findings about.
4. Melanotan 2 Safety
It is worth discussing melanotan 2 safety in animal studies as the peptide has a wide range of effects. These effects are not accurately termed side effects but better referred to as dose-dependent effects as discussed above. The melanocortin system of receptors is unique in that it isn’t an all-or-none system but rather the activity of an agonist (or antagonist) is determined more by its dosage than anything else. Melanotan 2 researchers should look to use the lowest dose of melanotan 2 than they can in order to avoid additional receptor activation that may obscure their ability to detect the effects they are interested in. If this basic tenet of melacortin biology is understood and respected, they developing safe, effective, efficient research protocols should be as straightforward as the old adage “start low, go slow.” With melanocortins, researchers should perform dose tolerance studies to determine relative minimum and maximum values for achieving desired effects. From there, observing and exploring the impact on specific biological systems is simply a matter of titration.
5. In Summary
Researchers looking to buy melanotan 2 online should familiarize themselves with the existing body of scientific research on the peptide. This will allow them to properly evaluate the transparency and integrity of the source from which they seek to purchase melanotan-2. A great deal of interesting and diverse biological research has revealed that MT 2 has a host of actions that vary with dose and organ system involved. There is a wide area for study in everything from sexual health and social behavior to heart health and neurological development. Researchers looking to investigate these areas of melanotan 2 research should investigate the existing research, particularly as it applies to melanotan dosage the effects that dose variations have on melanocortin receptor activation.
