Skip to content
PT-141 Score

A research digest read like a score — what the bremelanotide literature actually measures on the brain's desire circuitry, the trial's modest effect, and the tolerability it asks you to weigh.

The full stave

PT-141 References: Every Cited Source

The complete reference list for the PT-141 (bremelanotide) record on this site — peer-reviewed trials, the mechanistic fMRI study, the FDA prescribing information, and the published re-analyses, each with its identifiers.

Back to the researchRead the side effects

How to read these references

Every quantitative clinical claim on this site maps to a numbered source below — peer-reviewed journals, ClinicalTrials.gov records, and the FDA structured product label. Where a source is disputed, the dispute is noted with it: reference 7's 2008 erectile-dysfunction study carries a 2023 Expression of Concern, and references 8 and 12 are the re-analyses that contest the effect size. The conference abstracts (13-15) are flagged as lower-tier evidence. The field-reports section on the side-effects page cites nothing here by design — it is community talk, not literature.

  1. Molinoff PB, Shadiack AM, Earle D, Diamond LE, Quon CY. PT-141: a melanocortin agonist for the treatment of sexual dysfunction. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003;994:96-102. ↗
  2. Pfaus J, Shadiack A, Van Soest T, Tse M, Molinoff P. Selective facilitation of sexual solicitation in the female rat by a melanocortin receptor agonist. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004;101:10201-10204. ↗
  3. Kingsberg SA, Clayton AH, Portman D, Williams LA, Krop J, Jordan R, Lucas J, Simon JA. Bremelanotide for the Treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: Two Randomized Phase 3 Trials. Obstet Gynecol. 2019;134(5):899-908. ↗
  4. Simon JA, Kingsberg SA, Portman D, Williams LA, Krop J, Jordan R, Lucas J, Clayton AH. Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Bremelanotide for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Obstet Gynecol. 2019;134(5):909-917. ↗
  5. Thurston L, Hunjan T, Mills EG, Wall MB, Ertl N, Phylactou M, et al. Melanocortin 4 receptor agonism enhances sexual brain processing in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. J Clin Invest. 2022;132(19):e152341. ↗
  6. U.S. Food and Drug Administration / DailyMed. Bremelanotide Injection — US Prescribing Information (structured product label). 2019. ↗
  7. Safarinejad MR, Hosseini SY. Salvage of Sildenafil Failures With Bremelanotide: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Study. J Urol. 2008;179(3):1066-1071. NOTE: An Expression of Concern was published in 2023 (J Urol; PMID 36626345); findings are disputed. ↗
  8. Spielmans GI. Re-Analyzing Phase III Bremelanotide Trials for "Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder" in Women. J Sex Res. 2021;58(9):1085-1105. ↗
  9. Mayer D, Lynch SE. Bremelanotide: New Drug Approved for Treating Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Ann Pharmacother. 2020;54(7):684-690. ↗
  10. Cipriani S, Maseroli E, Vignozzi L. An evaluation of bremelanotide injection for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2023;24(1):15-21. ↗
  11. Borland JM, Kohut-Jackson AL, Peyla AC, Hall MA, Mermelstein PG, Meisel RL. Female Syrian hamster analyses of bremelanotide, a US FDA approved drug for the treatment of female hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Neuropharmacology. 2025;110299. ↗
  12. Spielmans GI. Small Effects, Questionable Outcomes: Bremelanotide for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. J Sex Res. 2024;61(?):(advance). ↗
  13. Goldstein I, et al. (227) Use of the CNS Agent Bremelanotide in Men with Sexual Dysfunction: Results from a Sexual Medicine Clinic. J Sex Med. 2024;21(Suppl). Conference abstract — lower evidence tier. ↗
  14. Goldstein I, et al. (122) Positive Effects of Bremelanotide on Female Sexual Arousal and Orgasm in Premenopausal Women. J Sex Med. 2025;22(Suppl). Conference abstract — lower evidence tier. ↗
  15. Vereecken S, et al. (396) Comparative Analysis of Flibanserin, Bremelanotide, and Testosterone Therapy for Female Sexual Dysfunction. J Sex Med. 2025;22(Suppl). Conference abstract — lower evidence tier. ↗
  16. Dhillon S, Keam SJ. Bremelanotide: First Approval. Drugs. 2019;79:1599-1606. ↗
  17. White WB, Myers MG, Jordan R, Lucas J. Usefulness of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to assess the melanocortin receptor agonist bremelanotide. J Hypertens. 2017;35(4):761-768. ↗
  18. Clayton AH, Lucas J, DeRogatis LR, Jordan R. Phase I Randomized Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Study of the Safety and Tolerability of Bremelanotide Coadministered With Ethanol in Healthy Male and Female Participants. Clin Ther. 2017;39(3):514-526.e14. ↗
  19. Clayton AH, Kingsberg SA, Portman D, Sadiq A, Jordan R, Lucas J, Spana C, Simon JA. Safety Profile of Bremelanotide Across the Clinical Development Program. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2022;31(2):171-182. ↗
  20. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (LiverTox). Bremelanotide - LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury. NCBI Bookshelf (LiverTox). 2021. ↗
  21. Mestria S, Odoardi S, Frison G, Strano Rossi S. LC-HRMS characterization of the skin pigmentation and sexual enhancers melanotan II and bremelanotide sold on the black market of performance and image enhancing drugs. Drug testing and analysis. 2021. ↗
  22. Nelson ME, Bryant SM, Aks SE. Melanotan II injection resulting in systemic toxicity and rhabdomyolysis. Clinical toxicology (Philadelphia, Pa.). 2012. ↗
  23. Spana C, Jordan R, Fischkoff S. Effect of bremelanotide on body weight of obese women: Data from two phase 1 randomized controlled trials. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2022;24(6):1084-1093. ↗
  24. Bardhan M, Anand A, Javed A, Chilo MA, Khan N, Garg T. Polymorphism of Melanocortin Receptor Genes-Association with Inflammatory Traits and Diseases. Diseases (Basel, Switzerland). 2025. ↗
  25. Hadley ME, Dorr RT. Melanocortin peptide therapeutics: historical milestones, clinical studies and commercialization. Peptides. 2006. ↗
  26. Hedlund P. PT-141 Palatin. Current opinion in investigational drugs (London, England : 2000). 2004. ↗
  27. Al Shaer D, Al Musaimi O, Albericio F, de la Torre BG. 2019 FDA TIDES (Peptides and Oligonucleotides) Harvest. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland). 2020. ↗