Weight & Metabolic
5-Amino-1MQ
aka 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium · 5a1mq · nnmt inhibitor · 5 amino 1mq peptide
Grade
A lab-made small molecule that blocks an enzyme (NNMT) to nudge fat tissue toward burning rather than storing energy — convincing in obese mice, completely untested in people.
- Class
- Small-molecule NNMT inhibitor (quaternary quinolinium compound) — not a peptide despite the marketing label
- Evidence
- Grade D · Animal data only
- Sport / WADA
- Not specifically named on the WADA Prohibited List. However, as an unlicensed, untested compound with no current marketing approval for human therapeutic use, it could fall under WADA's catch-all clause S0 (non-approved substances). Using it also carries a real risk of contamination with prohibited substances. Athletes should treat it as high-risk.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-06
Grade D · Animal data only
Why this grade
Promising mouse and cell data for fat loss and muscle ageing, but zero published or completed human trials.
What is it?
5-Amino-1MQ is a chemical that switches off a tiny cellular machine called NNMT. In overweight bodies that machine runs hot and helps fat cells hang on to fat. Block it and, at least in mice, the fat cells shrink and the animals lose weight without eating less. People sell it online as a 'weight-loss peptide', but two things are worth knowing: it isn't actually a peptide, and nobody has ever run a proper trial of it in humans. So the exciting headlines are all about mice, not you.
Think of NNMT as a leaky tap that constantly drains your cells' battery (NAD+). 5-Amino-1MQ is a plug for that tap — in mice it keeps the battery topped up so fat cells burn more and tired muscles wake up. The catch: every photo of that working is of a mouse. Nobody has yet checked whether the same plug fits the human tap, or what happens if you leave it in for years.
How is it meant to work?
Inhibits nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT), an enzyme overexpressed in obese fat tissue and ageing muscle. NNMT methylates nicotinamide using SAM as the methyl donor, consuming both nicotinamide and methyl groups. Blocking it is thought to spare nicotinamide for recycling into NAD+ and preserve SAM, raising both. Higher NAD+ supports sirtuin (SIRT1) activity and cellular energy metabolism, which in animals shifts fat cells away from storage and toward energy expenditure and reactivates dormant muscle stem cells.
What's it studied for?
Research contexts. Not proven uses, and not recommendations.
Does the human evidence stack up?
There is essentially none. Every headline figure — 5% weight loss, 35% fat reduction, restored muscle stem cells — comes from mice or cell cultures, not people. As of mid-2026 there are no completed, published human clinical trials of 5-Amino-1MQ, no MHRA- or FDA-approved indication, and no Investigational New Drug data in the public domain; reviews of NNMT as a drug target (e.g. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2024) still describe it as preclinically validated only. Claims of a 'favourable safety profile in humans' circulating on supplement sites are not supported by any published human study. Whether NNMT inhibition produces the same metabolic effects in humans, and whether chronically raising NAD+ and SAM is safe long-term, is simply unknown.
What could go wrong?
- !No human trials at all — efficacy and safety in people are unproven; all benefits are extrapolated from rodents.
- !Marketed misleadingly as a 'peptide'; it is a small synthetic quinolinium molecule, which matters for how it is regulated and what 'research chemical' purity claims mean.
- !Sold by unlicensed online vendors as a 'research chemical' — no pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing, dose accuracy or contaminant testing guaranteed.
- !Manipulating NAD+/SAM and sirtuin pathways systemically has unknown long-term consequences, including theoretical effects on cell proliferation and cancer biology that have not been studied in humans.
- !Often stacked with NAD+ precursors and sold for anti-ageing on the basis of mechanism alone, far ahead of the evidence.
Is it legal in the UK?
5-Amino-1MQ is not a licensed medicine in the UK and holds no MHRA marketing authorisation for any condition. It is not an approved weight-loss treatment. Products sold online are unlicensed and typically labelled 'research chemical, not for human consumption' to sidestep the Human Medicines Regulations 2012; supplying or promoting it for human use as a medicine without authorisation would fall foul of MHRA rules. There is no approved route for a person to obtain or use it lawfully as a treatment in the UK.
Key trials
- · None
No registered or completed human clinical trials identified
As of mid-2026, no Phase 1+ trials of 5-Amino-1MQ are listed as completed on ClinicalTrials.gov or published in peer-reviewed literature. All evidence is preclinical.
Sources
- 01Selective and membrane-permeable small molecule inhibitors of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase reverse high fat diet-induced obesity in mice — Neelakantan H, Vance V, Wetzel MD, et al., Biochemical Pharmacology (2018)
Foundational mouse study: ~5% weight loss, ~35% fat reduction, lower cholesterol, no change in food intake. Animal only. PMID verified this run.
- 02Small molecule nicotinamide N-methyltransferase inhibitor activates senescent muscle stem cells and improves regenerative capacity of aged skeletal muscle — Neelakantan H, Brightwell CR, Graber TG, et al., Biochemical Pharmacology (2019)
Mouse/cell study: reactivated aged muscle stem cells and improved post-injury regeneration. Animal only. PMID verified this run.
- 03Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT): a novel therapeutic target for metabolic syndrome — (review), Frontiers in Pharmacology (2024)
2024 review confirming NNMT inhibitors remain preclinically validated only, with no human trial data.
- 045-Amino-1-methylquinolinium — compound summary — PubChem, NCBI PubChem (2026)
Confirms it is a small quaternary quinolinium molecule, not a peptide.
- 05Search: 5-amino-1MQ NNMT inhibitor human clinical trials — PubMed, PubMed (2026)
Searched this run — no completed human clinical trials returned.
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