2023-08-19 08:22:05
Social networks like TikTok these days collect a great abundance of publications about the melanotan, a drug that promotes tanning by stimulating melanocytescells present in the epidermis that are responsible for producing melanin, a pigment that makes our skin tan in summer, explains Cristina Mateo, pharmacist and biotechnologist on the team at Marta Mashi.
However, this expert warns that its commercialization is not legal in Europe and the United States, since it is still in the clinical research phase, continues this expert. In this she agrees with Dr. Luis Hueso, from the Hospital de Manises and a member of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV). This doctor already warned in 2011, in this article published on the entity’s website, on the illegal use of this drug and the risks involved.
What dangers does the use of melanotan entail? What effects does it cause? Here we give you all the keys.
Melanotan: an investigational drug
Melanotan, points out Cristina Mateo, is an investigational compound clinic whose active ingredient is “a synthetic analogue of the alpha-MSH hormone”, which is responsible for stimulating melanocytes, the skin cells that produce melanin, “the pigment that makes our skin tan in summer”.
Being an analogue of the alpha-MSH hormone, it helps activate melanocytes, which generates melanin and promotes tanning. However, being a hormone, “It has been seen that it promotes other effects that are not the desired ones, such as hyperpigmentation, increased number and size of freckles and moles, involuntary erections, increased blood pressure, kidney damage, and risk of rhabdomyolysis” (according to Medline Plusthe National Library of Medicine of the United States National Institutes of Healthrhabdomyolysis is the “breakdown of muscle tissue that results in the release of the contents of muscle fibers into the blood”).
At present, melanotan is in the clinical research phase, insists Cristina Mateo, and, therefore, its commercialization is not allowed in Europe and the United States. “There is no scientific evidence that it currently does not pose a health risk and it is important to highlight that you should never buy medicines over the internet, since they do not ensure their safety, efficacy and quality characteristics”, he concludes.
The risks of melanotan
In addition to those already described, this expert asserts that there are studies that reveal that patients who use melanotan show a “rather alarming” increase in the size of moles and freckles and, therefore, proceed to remove them. When analyzed, they present a severe melanocytic dysplasia”, that is, moles with a risk of malignant transformation.
Currently there is no safe tan, Cristina Mateo responds to the INFOVERITAS query in this regard. “To be able to show off tanned skin throughout the year The best thing to do would be to use self-tanners.which would help us achieve it in a more healthy than with prolonged exposure to the sun through UVA rays”.
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