ReviewClinical pharmacokinetics2017
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Afamelanotide and its Clinical Use in Treating Dermatologic Disorders.
Review in Clinical pharmacokinetics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Changes in Oral Mucosa Associated with Melanotan II Injections: A Case Report.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Blocking ASIP to Protect MC1R Signaling and Mitigate Melanoma Risk: An In Silico Study.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Dysregulated Intracellular Signaling in the Pathogenesis of Vitiligo: An Update on Emerging Therapeutic Strategies.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Emerging Therapeutic Innovations for Vitiligo Treatment.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- An overview of benefits and risks of chronic melanocortin-1 receptor activation.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2025Review
- Erythropoietic protoporphyrias: Pathogenesis, diagnosis and management.Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver · 2025Review
- Up-and-Coming Drugs for the Treatment of Vitiligo.Annals of dermatology · 2024Review
- Melanocyte stem cells in the skin: Origin, biological characteristics, homeostatic maintenance and therapeutic potential.Clinical and translational medicine · 2024Review
- Afamelanotide in protoporphyria and other skin diseases: a review.Postepy dermatologii i alergologii · 2024Review
- Exploring FDA-Approved Frontiers: Insights into Natural and Engineered Peptide Analogues in the GLP-1, GIP, GHRH, CCK, ACTH, and α-MSH Realms.Biomolecules · 2024Review
- Melanogrit potentiates melanogenesis by escalating cellular tyrosinase activity and MITF levels via pERK inhibition.Bioscience reports · 2024Article
- Etiopathogenesis and Emerging Methods for Treatment of Vitiligo.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Afamelanotide Is Associated with Dose-Dependent Protective Effect from Liver Damage Related to Erythropoietic Protoporphyria.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Computational Screening of Approved Drugs for Inhibition of the Antibiotic Resistance GeneBiotech (Basel (Switzerland)) · 2023Article
- Vitiligo, from Pathogenesis to Therapeutic Advances: State of the Art.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Strategies to improve the physicochemical properties of peptide-based drugs.Pharmaceutical research · 2023Review
- Melanocyte-keratinocyte cross-talk in vitiligo.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- [Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of porphyria-related hepatic manifestations].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2022Article
- Recognized and Emerging Features of Erythropoietic and X-Linked Protoporphyria.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Methoxy-Monobenzoylmethane Protects Human Skin against UV-Induced Damage by Conversion to Avobenzone and Radical Scavenging.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Afamelanotide, the first α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) analogue, synthesized in 1980, was broadly investigated in all aspects of pigmentation because its activity and stability were higher than the natural hormone. Afamelanotide binds to the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), and MC1R signaling increases melanin synthesis, induces antioxidant activities, enhances DNA repair processes and modulates inflammation. The loss-of-function variants of the MC1R present in fair-skinned Caucasians are less effectively activated by the natural hormone. Afamelanotide was the first α-MSH analogue to be applied to human volunteers. Ten daily doses of between 0.08 and 0.21 mg/kg in saline injected subcutaneously resulted in long-lasting skin pigmentation and enabled basic pharmacokinetics. Subcutaneous application had full bioavailability, but neither oral nor transdermal application resulted in measurable plasma concentrations or pigmentation response. Two trials in human volunteers showed that neither MC1R variants nor fair skin reduced the afamelanotide-induced increase in skin pigmentation. A controlled-release formulation optimizes administration in man and is effective at a lower dose than the daily saline injections. Promising therapeutic results were published in polymorphic light eruption, erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), solar urticaria, Hailey-Hailey disease and vitiligo. In 2014, afamelanotide was approved by the European Medicines Agency for the prevention of phototoxicity in adult patients with EPP. No late effects were reported in volunteers 25 years after the first exposure or after continuous long-term application of up to 8 years in EPP patients, and an immunogenic potential has been excluded. Generally, adverse effects were benign in all trials.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.