Discoloration of the skin, specifically hyperpigmentation, may occur—especially if bremelanotide is used more than eight times in one month. The discoloration may not resolve upon stopping use of bremelanotide, and may occur on the face, gums, or breasts. Experiments in animals, even at high doses, failed to find any negative consequence of bremelanotide on fertility. Bremelanotide does not meaningfully interact with alcohol, unlike flibanserin (for which the interaction with alcohol is a major barrier to its use). However, bremelanotide does interact with certain medications that people take by mouth. By slowing gastric motility, bremelanotide is thought to reduce the oral absorption (bioavailability) of certain medications, such as naltrexone and indomethacin. Bremelanotide is a non-selective agonist of the melanocortin receptors, MC1 through MC5 (with the exception of MC2, the receptor of ), but acting primarily as an MC3 and MC4 receptor agonist. The bioavailability of bremelanotide with subcutaneous injection is about 100%. Following a subcutaneous injection of bremelanotide, maximal levels occur after about one hour, with a range of 0.5 to 1.0 hours. The plasma protein binding of bremelanotide is 21%. Bremelanotide is metabolized via hydrolysis of its peptide bonds. The elimination half-life of bremelanotide is 2.7 hours, with a range of 1.9 to 4.0 hours. Bremelanotide is excreted 64.8% in urine and 22.8% in feces. Bremelanotide is a cyclic heptapeptide lactam analogue of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH). It has the amino acid sequence Ac-Nle-"cyclo"[Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-OH, and is also known as "cyclo"-[Nle4,Asp5,D-Phe7,Lys10]α-MSH-(4-10). Bremelanotide is an active metabolite of melanotan II that lacks the C-terminal amide group. Aside from melanotan II and endogenous melanocyte-stimulating hormones like α-MSH, other peptide analogues of the same family as bremelanotide include afamelanotide (NDP-α-MSH), modimelanotide, and setmelanotide.