5-Amino-1MQ: evidence, FDA status and research

It is sold as a pill for losing fat and keeping muscle. No study in people has been published; the fat-loss claim rests on two mouse studies.

Sold for

5-Amino-1MQ is sold as an oral fat-loss and muscle-preserving compound that blocks the NNMT enzyme, with claims that it raises NAD+ and shrinks fat cells without affecting appetite.

Studies say

Two mouse studies show reduced fat mass and better glucose handling in diet-induced obese animals, but no human data exist, so the fat-loss claim rests entirely on preclinical work (grade C).

Why grade C. The evidence for fat loss comes from two mouse studies and cultured fat cells; no human trial of 5-Amino-1MQ has been published, so the largest human sample is zero. The remaining citations are human trials of different NAD+ precursors (NR and NMN) that showed no metabolic benefit, which says nothing direct about this compound. ³⁴⁷⁸

FDA. 5-Amino-1MQ is not approved by the FDA for any use. It is sold online as a research chemical and by some wellness clinics as a metabolism or fat-loss supplement; no new drug application has been filed for it. ¹³

Written from 9 cited sources. Last refreshed 2026-10-27. Not physician reviewed.

What this means for you

What people take it for: Losing fat and weight
Can a US doctor prescribe it?: No. It is not approved and is sold as a research chemical.
Properly tested in people?: No meaningful testing published in people: zero human studies, only two mouse studies and lab cells.

Evidence checklist

Randomised controlled trial No human trial; mouse studies onlyno
Human study over 100 people Largest human sample is zerono
More than one research group Few mouse studies, no human replicationno
Clinical outcomes, not surrogate markers No clinical outcomes measuredno
Human safety data beyond case reports No human safety data of any kindno

Drawn from the cited studies below. A dash means the sources give no information.

What it is

5-Amino-1MQ (5-amino-1-methylquinolinium) is a small lab-made molecule, not a peptide. It belongs to a group of methylquinolinium compounds made at the University of Texas Medical Branch. They block nicotinamide N-methyltransferase, or NNMT. This enzyme is extra active in the fat of obese animals and people. ¹³

Wellness sites often list it with injectable peptides. It sells through the same channels, usually as pills. The FDA has never reviewed it. ³

How it works

NNMT adds a methyl group to nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3. This makes 1-methylnicotinamide. It also uses up two things the cell needs. One is nicotinamide, which cells would otherwise recycle into NAD+. The other is S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the body's main methyl donor. Researchers used methylquinolinium inhibitors. to block NNMT in cultured fat cells. 1-methylnicotinamide fell. NAD+ and SAM rose. New fat built up more slowly. ¹³

These compounds were picky. In the published tests, they did not block related methyltransferases. They also left the enzymes of the NAD+ salvage pathway alone. Nobody has tested whether this holds in people. ³

Reviews of NNMT in cancer biology say it is highly active in several tumour types. There it changes NAD+-dependent signalling and epigenetic state. That work is about the enzyme, not 5-Amino-1MQ. No study has tested the compound in people, with or without cancer. ⁹

What human research shows

No one has published a human trial, case series or study of how the body handles 5-Amino-1MQ. All claims that it works come from rodent and cell experiments. ³⁴

Marketing often borrows from NAD+ supplement research. The human data there are not encouraging. A 12-week randomized trial gave nicotinamide riboside to 40 obese men. It found no gain in insulin sensitivity, energy use or body composition. A 2024 meta-analysis of eight NMN trials (342 adults) found no significant effect on glucose or lipid measures. These compounds raise NAD+ by a different route. They are neither evidence for nor against 5-Amino-1MQ. ⁷⁸

Study	Model	Finding
Neelakantan 2018, Biochemical Pharmacology	Diet-induced obese mice and cultured adipocytes	A potent methylquinolinium NNMT inhibitor reduced body weight, white fat mass, adipocyte size and plasma cholesterol without changing food intake. ³
5A1MQ in obese mice, 2024	Diet-induced obese mice, 28 days of daily treatment	5-Amino-1MQ limited weight and fat gain, improved oral glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, and reduced fatty liver changes, with good distribution to fat, muscle and liver. ⁴
Dollerup 2018, AJCN (nicotinamide riboside)	Humans, n=40 obese men, randomized placebo-controlled, 12 weeks	An NAD+ precursor taken by a different route did not improve insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism or body composition. ⁸
NMN meta-analysis 2024	Humans, 8 RCTs, n=342 pooled	NMN supplementation had no significant effect on fasting glucose, insulin, HbA1c or lipids. ⁷

Safety

In mice, the published studies reported no observable adverse effects. Food intake did not change. Liver enzymes stayed normal after four weeks of daily treatment. The studies were short, in small groups of rodents. ³⁴

We know nothing about its safety in humans. There is no dose-ranging study, no toxicology package and no tracking after sale. NNMT activity is linked to tumour behaviour in several cancers. So the long-term effect of suppressing it in people is an open question. No study has addressed it. No one checks what is in products sold online. ⁹

Questions for your clinician

Is there any controlled human trial of 5-Amino-1MQ for the use I have in mind?
How would I know what is actually in a capsule sold online, given no one checks identity or purity?
Since the human NAD+ precursor trials showed no metabolic benefit, what evidence would justify trying this instead?

Questions people ask

Has the FDA cleared 5-Amino-1MQ for any use?

No. It has never been sent for FDA review and is not approved for any use. It is sold as a research chemical or as an unregulated supplement. ³

Do any human trials of 5-Amino-1MQ exist?

No human trial has been published. The two studies of whether it works were in obese mice fed a rich diet. The cell work used cultured fat cells. ³⁴

Should 5-Amino-1MQ be classed as a peptide?

No. It is a small molecule built on a methylquinolinium ring. It gets listed with peptides because the same vendors and clinics sell it. Its target, NNMT, also is part of the same talk as NAD+ boosters. ³

How does it compare to semaglutide or tirzepatide?

Semaglutide and tirzepatide are FDA-approved injectable drugs. Large randomized trials back their weight-loss uses. 5-Amino-1MQ has no human data at all. So there is no basis for comparing effect size or safety. ⁵⁶

How does 5-Amino-1MQ raise NAD+ differently from NR or NMN?

NR and NMN are NAD+ precursors. They feed the salvage pathway directly. 5-Amino-1MQ is meant to raise NAD+ indirectly, by stopping NNMT from using up nicotinamide. Human trials of NR and NMN have mostly shown no metabolic benefit. No human trial of 5-Amino-1MQ exists. ⁷⁸

Citations

Neelakantan 2018, Biochemical Pharmacology: selective NNMT inhibitors reverse diet-induced obesity in mice (DOI) doi.org
Scientific Reports 2022: NNMT inhibition study doi.org
Neelakantan 2018, Biochemical Pharmacology: NNMT inhibitors reverse high fat diet-induced obesity in mice pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism 2024: NNMT inhibition mitigates obesity-related metabolic dysfunction pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
FDA Drugs@FDA: semaglutide (Wegovy) approval record accessdata.fda.gov
FDA Drugs@FDA: tirzepatide (Mounjaro) approval record accessdata.fda.gov
Current Diabetes Reports 2024: meta-analysis of NMN RCTs on glucose and lipid metabolism pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Dollerup 2018, AJCN: randomized trial of nicotinamide riboside in obese men pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Cell Death & Disease 2022: roles of NNMT in cancer progression pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov