Melanotan II (MT-2)

Melanotan II peptides have been shown in research conditions to tan skin naturally (melanocortin) without exposure to sunlight in research studies. MT-2 also has demonstrated aphrodisiac properties and increase libido in both male and female research subjects.

The effects of melanotan II on the diet and food intake of the laboratory mice have also been investigated. It has been demonstrated that the central melanocortin (MC) has been activated by melanotan II when fed and induced in the mice. The six-day treatment of MT-2 has shown that melanotan II actually reduced the body weight and the adipose tissue in the viscera of the mice and suppressed the caloric intake of the organism.

This has implications in clinical applications of the possible treatment to reduce carbohydrate or calorie intake especially for the overweight and the obese research subjects. Furthermore, the same study has also demonstrated that there was a sustained increase in the available oxygen consumption in obese animals. Melanotan II (MT-2) also helped reduced the level of serum insulin and the cholesterol levels when compared with the control treatments.

Furthermore, it has been suggested that melanotan actually lowers the level of acetylcholine A caboxylase expression and even prevented the reduction of carnitine and palmitoltransferase I mRNA in muscle-type tissues by pair-feeding in the muscles of the obese rats. Moreover, the melanotan II actually increased the fat catabolism in the muscles and even improved the cholesterol metabolism (Li et al. 2004).