Tanning nasal sprays are sold as the needle-free version of the tanning injection: a few sprays instead of a vial and a syringe. Almost all of them contain, or say they contain, melanotan II, the unapproved melanocortin peptide covered on our tanning peptides page. This page asks a narrower question — what is actually known about melanotan through the nose — and answers it from trial registries, the research literature and regulators. It is not a guide to using any product.
The direct evidence: nothing tested on people
On 3 October 2026, PubMed returned 3 records for melanotan or melanotan II with a nasal or intranasal term:
| Record | What it is |
|---|---|
| Yassin Alsabbagh 2025, Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg (PMID 40210573) | A case report: oral mucosal melanoma in a 22-year-old woman who had used a melanotan II nasal spray for tanning |
| 2017, J Neuroendocrinol (PMID 28009464) | A rat study of brain activity and oxytocin |
| 2003, Urologe A (PMID 14569381) | A German review of erectile-dysfunction drugs |
None is a human trial of a nasal melanotan product. ClinicalTrials.gov held one registered melanotan II study on the same day: a phase 2 trial in vitiligo, combined with narrowband UV-B phototherapy, recruiting since February 2026 (NCT07437560). It is not a tanning trial and does not name a nasal spray. The tanning trials that do exist, from the 1990s, gave melanotan by injection; our melanotan 1 vs 2 page sets them out.
The nearest evidence: a near-twin that was tested as a spray
Bremelanotide, the active ingredient of the FDA-approved drug Vyleesi, is melanotan II with one chemical group changed at one end — an amide replaced by an acid, as compared on our melanotan 1 vs 2 page. Its developer, Palatin Technologies, first tested it as a nasal spray, for sexual function rather than tanning. Those trials are the only human data on how this molecule behaves when sprayed into the nose.
| Study | What it measured |
|---|---|
| Diamond 2004, double-blind, placebo-controlled, healthy men and men with erectile dysfunction (PMID 14963471) | Blood levels rose with dose; peak at a median 0.5 hours; half-life 1.85–2.09 hours; flushing and nausea the most common adverse events |
| Clayton 2017, phase 1, 24 adults, intranasal 20 mg with and without alcohol (PMID 28189361) | States that 20 mg intranasal gave exposure "equivalent to ~1 to 2 times the subcutaneous dose" then in phase 3 |
The second line allows a rough comparison. The approved subcutaneous dose on Vyleesi's label is 1.75 mg. If 20 mg sprayed gave the exposure of one to two injected doses, then 20 mg through the nose did the work of 1.75 to 3.5 mg under the skin — roughly 9% to 18% per milligram. That is our arithmetic from the study's own statement, for bremelanotide, not a measurement of any melanotan spray. It does show the general point: a peptide of this size crosses the nasal lining far less completely than an injection delivers it.
The approved product went the other way. Vyleesi's FDA label (effective 13 November 2025) lists a 1.75 mg subcutaneous autoinjector and no nasal form. The drug that reached approval from this family is injected.
What a spray changes, and what it does not
Three things follow from the record above, and none depends on a single study.
- The dose is unknowable from the outside. The laboratory analyses of melanotan vials on our injection page found 43% to 88% of the labelled amount, and 30% purity in a seized sample. No laboratory analysis of a melanotan nasal spray product was found in PubMed. A spray adds two further unknowns — how much each actuation delivers, and how much of that crosses the nasal lining.
- It is the same molecule. A spray changes the route, not the substance. Melanotan II acts on several melanocortin receptors, including those in the brain behind appetite and sexual effects, as our page on alpha-MSH and the melanocortin receptors explains.
- It puts the substance on a mucous membrane. The one published case naming a spray describes a melanoma of the upper jaw, inside the mouth. Its authors frame the spray as "a possible risk factor"; one case cannot establish cause. It is one of the case reports counted on our melanotan side effects page.
What regulators have said about sprays specifically
Most regulator statements on melanotan concern injections. The one we found that addresses sprays directly is from the UK. Answering a freedom-of-information request on 17 April 2024 (FOI 24/274), the MHRA said injectable melanotan II and pens are medicines, while a nasal spray is classed as a medicine "only if sold with claims to treat or prevent disease". In the same response it described the contents of unauthorised products as unknown, with no safeguards for quality, safety or effectiveness.
That rule is about classification, not safety. A spray sold without medical claims falls outside the medicines definition; it does not mean the product has been checked by anyone. The wider register of regulator statements, with dates, is on our tanning peptides page.
What has never been studied
- Any nasal melanotan product, for tanning or anything else, in a human trial.
- How much melanotan II crosses the human nasal lining.
- What sprays sold online actually contain, by laboratory analysis.
- Whether repeated use on the nasal and oral lining carries risks of its own.
Anyone who has used a tanning spray and notices a new or changing mole, or a dark patch inside the mouth or nose, should have it examined by a doctor; the melanotan side effects page sets out what has been reported.
Sources
- PubMed E-utilities, 3 October 2026: melanotan / MT-II / melanotan II with nasal or intranasal (3 records, PMIDs 40210573, 28009464, 14569381); bremelanotide / PT-141 with nasal or intranasal (12 records).
- Yassin Alsabbagh A, Bhujel N, Singh RP. Melanotan II nasal spray: a possible risk factor for oral mucosal malignant melanoma? International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 2025;54(9):806-808 (PMID 40210573).
- Diamond LE et al. Double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of the safety, pharmacokinetic properties and pharmacodynamic effects of intranasal PT-141. International Journal of Impotence Research 2004;16(1):51-59 (PMID 14963471).
- Clayton AH et al. Phase I randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind study of the safety and tolerability of bremelanotide coadministered with ethanol in healthy male and female participants. Clinical Therapeutics 2017 (PMID 28189361).
- VYLEESI (bremelanotide injection) prescribing information, openFDA label effective 13 November 2025, sections 2 and 3.
- ClinicalTrials.gov API v2, 3 October 2026: "melanotan" (1 study, NCT07437560).
- MHRA freedom-of-information response FOI 24/274, 17 April 2024, as quoted on our tanning peptides page.