[The risks of tanning with the Barbie drug].
This paper presents a case report of a 27-year-old male with no relevant medical history who attended an emergency department two hours after self-administering Melanotan II (also marketed as a "Barbie drug") subcutaneously. Melanotan II is a synthetic analogue of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) that stimulates eumelanin production to induce skin pigmentation without sun exposure. It is readily available for purchase online and in gyms, despite not being approved for clinical use. Following self-administration, the patient developed sympathomimetic symptoms requiring treatment with lorazepam, supplemental potassium, and intravenous fluid resuscitation. The authors also note that prior research has associated Melanotan II use with the development of new pigmented and dysplastic naevi, raising additional dermatological safety concerns. The paper concludes that despite its easy accessibility, Melanotan II carries real and potentially serious risks. Key limitations include its single-patient case design, which precludes generalization about incidence or severity of adverse effects across the broader population of users.
Why this grade: This is a single case report in one human patient, which provides limited but direct human evidence of adverse effects; no control group or systematic data collection was employed.
Background Melanotan II, also known as 'Barbie drugs', can be purchased over the internet and in gyms to facilitate sunless tanning. The purchased product is a alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) analogue, which stimulates the production of eumelanin to get skin pigmentation. However, previous research showed that Melanotan supports the development of new pigmented and dysplastic naevi. Case report We report a case of a 27 year old male, with no relevant medical history, who presented at the emergency department two hours after subcutaneous self-administration of Melanotan II. He suffered from sympathomimetic symptoms and was treated with lorazepam, supplemental potassium and intravenous fluid resuscitation. Conclusion This case reports underlines self-administration of Melanotan II is not without potential side effects, although Melanotan II is easily available on the internet and in gyms.
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