01 What is 5-Amino-1MQ?
In plain English.
5-Amino-1MQ is a small organic molecule, not a peptide. Its full chemical name is 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium, and it belongs to a chemical family called quinoliniums. It was designed by academic chemists at Indiana University as a selective inhibitor of an enzyme called NNMT (nicotinamide N-methyltransferase), which is unusually active in the fat tissue of obese mice and humans. The compound first appeared in the medicinal-chemistry literature in 2017–2018.
We include 5-Amino-1MQ in this peptide reference because it is sold and discussed in the same wellness, biohacker and "research-chemical" channels as peptides like MOTS-c, AOD-9604 and tesamorelin, and people regularly ask whether it is a peptide. It is not. It is a small molecule. The honest framing matters: peptide-adjacent marketing, peptide-style hype, but a different drug class with different risks.
02 How it works
The simple version, then the science.
NNMT's normal job is to mop up excess nicotinamide (a form of vitamin B3) by tagging it with a methyl group, which both removes it from the NAD+ salvage pathway and burns through SAM (the body's main methyl donor). In obesity, NNMT is dialled up in fat tissue, which the Kraus 2014 Nature paper argued helps drive a low-energy, fat-storing state. 5-Amino-1MQ blocks NNMT, the theory goes, so the cell stops wasting methyl groups and starts behaving more like lean tissue.
Go deeper · the proposed mechanism
Mechanistically, Neelakantan and colleagues at Indiana University (2017–2018) reported that 5-Amino-1MQ is a selective, cell- and membrane-permeable NNMT inhibitor with low-micromolar potency that increased intracellular NAD+ and SAM and reduced adipocyte size in 3T3-L1 cells and in diet-induced-obese mice. Kannt et al. (2018), working independently with a different small-molecule NNMT inhibitor, reproduced the broad picture: NNMT inhibition improved metabolic markers and reduced body weight gain in obese rodents. Pharmacokinetic work in rats (Patil et al. 2021) reported reasonable oral bioavailability and a short plasma half-life. None of this has been replicated in humans, and no human-subject data exists at the time of writing.
03 What it's used for
Each use graded by how strong the evidence actually is.
- PreclinicalDiet-induced obesity / adiposityIn Neelakantan et al. 2018 (Biochem Pharmacol), oral 5-Amino-1MQ for 11 days reduced body weight and fat mass in high-fat-diet mice without affecting food intake. This single mouse study is the cornerstone of essentially all consumer marketing.
- PreclinicalNAD+ / methyl-donor biologyInhibiting NNMT raises intracellular NAD+ and SAM in cell and rodent models, a mechanism plausibly relevant to metabolism and ageing biology, but only ever demonstrated in non-human systems.
- PreclinicalBroader metabolic markersA separate small-molecule NNMT inhibitor (Kannt 2018) reproduced weight and metabolic improvements in obese mice, lending some independent support to the target, but not to 5-Amino-1MQ specifically as a clinical drug.
- Anecdotal"Fat loss without exercise" / wellness useSold and discussed in biohacker and peptide-clinic circles as a fat-loss compound. There are no controlled human trials in any indication. Every consumer claim extrapolates from rodent data.
04 What the evidence says
The evidence base for 5-Amino-1MQ is genuinely thin and entirely preclinical. The biology is interesting: NNMT was identified as an obesity-relevant enzyme by Kraus et al. in a 2014 Nature paper that knocked it down in fat tissue and protected mice from diet-induced obesity. That paper, not 5-Amino-1MQ, is the real foundation of the target. The Neelakantan group at Indiana University then developed quinolinium-based NNMT inhibitors, first reported in J Med Chem in 2017, then characterised in Biochem Pharmacol in 2018, where 5-Amino-1MQ reduced fat mass in high-fat-diet mice over an 11-day oral dosing period. An independent group at Sanofi/Roche (Kannt 2018, Sci Rep) reproduced metabolic improvements with a different small-molecule NNMT inhibitor, useful target validation, but not the same compound. A rat pharmacokinetics paper (Patil 2021) confirmed oral bioavailability. Honest read: a plausible, interesting target with a single short rodent study on this specific molecule, and a wellness market that has run far ahead of the data. We are still at "promising preclinical target", not "drug candidate that worked in people".
05 Dosing & administration
Reported in the literature, information not advice.
There is no human dose because there are no human trials. The mouse work used oral 5-Amino-1MQ at roughly 20 mg/kg/day for 11 days, which does not translate directly to a human dose. Online vendors and clinics quote daily oral capsule regimens in the tens-of-milligrams range, but these are not based on any controlled human pharmacokinetic or efficacy study. No safe or effective dose has been established in humans. A qualified clinician should be consulted before considering any unapproved compound.
06 Side effects & safety
Human safety data for 5-Amino-1MQ does not exist in any meaningful form, no published clinical trial, no pharmacovigilance system, no monitored population. That is the most important sentence on this page. Plausible mechanistic concerns include effects on NAD+ and methyl-donor (SAM) pools, which sit at the centre of metabolism and DNA methylation, a target where unknown effects on cancer, immune function and other tissues cannot be ruled out from rodent work alone. NNMT itself is expressed in many tissues beyond adipose, including liver and tumour cells, so chronic inhibition could plausibly affect those. Products sold as 5-Amino-1MQ are unregulated research chemicals with no requirement for identity, purity or dose accuracy. People who are pregnant, breastfeeding, immunocompromised, taking other medicines, or with any cancer history should be especially cautious.
07 Where to buy (research use only)
Vetted on quality and transparency, not an endorsement to use.
08 Legal & regulatory status
- UKNot licensed as a medicine. Sold only as a "research chemical", not for human use.
- USNot FDA-approved. Not on the FDA's 503A/503B lists of bulk substances permitted for compounding. Sale for human use is not authorised.
- EU / AUS / CANNo approved human medicine containing 5-Amino-1MQ. Sale for human use is unlawful in most jurisdictions; "research use only" framing is standard.
- Sport (WADA)5-Amino-1MQ is not named explicitly on the current WADA Prohibited List, but as an unapproved investigational substance with claimed performance/body-composition effects it can fall under S0 ("Non-Approved Substances"), which prohibits any pharmacological substance not addressed by other sections and not currently approved by any health authority. Treat as banned in tested sport.
09 Clinical studies & research
Primary sources. Read the science yourself.