On this page
What it is
A small quinolinium compound that inhibits nicotinamide N-methyltransferase. It is a laboratory research reagent, and that is the only legitimate supply route for it.
How it is proposed to work
NNMT consumes nicotinamide and methyl groups. Inhibiting it is proposed to increase nicotinamide available for NAD+ salvage and to alter adipocyte energy metabolism. The reasoning is coherent — the missing step is any evidence it does this in a human.
Approved medical uses
None. 5-Amino-1MQ has no approved human medical indication in the jurisdictions we track. Any use is outside an approved label.
Human research
Each entry states what the study found and, separately, what it cannot show.
No adequate published human research. This absence is the reason for the evidence grade above — it is not a gap we can fill with animal data.
Preclinical research
Animal and laboratory work. Useful for generating hypotheses; it cannot establish that something works in people.
- Animal2024
5A1MQ in diet-induced obese mice: body composition, glucose handling and liver histology
Finding. Diet-induced obese mice were given the NNMT inhibitor 5A1MQ or vehicle once daily for 28 days. Treatment dose-dependently limited body weight and fat mass gains, improved oral glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, and suppressed hyperinsulinaemia. Liver histology showed attenuated hepatic steatosis and macrophage infiltration, with correspondingly reduced liver weight, size and triglyceride levels, and circulating alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and ketone bodies were normalised. Separate pharmacokinetic work in age- and strain-matched mice found high systemic exposure and distribution to adipose, muscle and liver after subcutaneous dosing.
Limitation. A single 28-day study in diet-induced obese mice. Mouse metabolic models translate poorly to human obesity, and this study is the entire evidence base for this compound — there are no human trials of any kind, and the pharmacokinetic and tissue-distribution work is likewise in mice rather than any human exposure. The paper's competing-interest statement names one author as the founder of Ridgeline Therapeutics, one as a paid employee and two as former employees; the remaining author, the university pathologist, declares no competing interests.
Potential safety concerns
- SeriousInsufficient
No human data of any kind — no trials, no pharmacokinetics, no safety dataset. NNMT is expressed across many tissues, so the consequences of inhibiting it systemically in a person are simply unknown.
- SeriousEstablished
Fabricated human phase 1 safety data circulates for this compound, with specific participant numbers, adverse-event rates and liver enzyme findings, attributed to a journal that does not exist. Anyone citing human safety data for this compound is repeating an invention.
- CautionEstablished
Marketed to consumers as a supplement, which it is not. FDA treats it as an unapproved drug substance.
Known interactions and contraindication considerations
- Entirely uncharacterised in humans.
This list is not exhaustive and is not a substitute for a clinician reviewing your full medication history.
Regulatory status
Status is shown per jurisdiction and is accurate only as of the date stated. Where a compound is approved, the approval is bound to a specific formulation, manufacturer and indication — shown in the detail column.
| Jurisdiction | Standing | Detail |
|---|---|---|
United States FDA | Not approved as of 6 Aug 2026 | FDA named this substance in a January 2026 warning letter as a bulk drug substance not eligible for compounding exemptions — meaning FDA treats it as an unapproved drug. It is not a lawful dietary ingredient; consumer sale is an illegal market rather than a regulatory category. |
European Union EMA | Not approved as of 6 Aug 2026 | No authorisation as a medicine or a novel food. |
India CDSCO | Unapproved / investigational as of 6 Aug 2026 | Not approved for human use. |
How it is being used
What the grey community actually runs, the reasoning they give, and our read on whether it follows from known biology. This is observation, not evidence, and not a recommendation.
No community use documented for this compound yet. Absence here means our editorial team has not reviewed and verified a pattern — not that none exists.
Active clinical trials
No registered trials currently tracked for 5-Amino-1MQ.
What remains unknown
The questions that would change our assessment if they were answered.
- Is it orally bioavailable in humans at all?
- Does NNMT inhibition affect methyl group availability in ways that matter systemically?
- Does anything observed in mice occur in a person?
References
Editorial change history
When we change a grade or a regulatory note, we log it here rather than editing quietly.
Dossier created. Fact-check flagged fabricated human phase 1 data circulating with fully specified figures — none reached this page. Also corrected: emergency presentations reported in a January 2026 FDA action were attributed to a compounded NAD+ product, not to this compound, and must not be listed here as its adverse events.
Spotted something wrong? Tell us — we publish corrections.