pepmg found no human trial of 5-amino-1MQ. Its fat-loss and muscle results come from injected mice, in studies by its developer's group.

The molecule

An enzyme blocker from one lab

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston designed a series of methylquinolinium compounds to block nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT), an enzyme abundant in white fat that uses up nicotinamide, an NAD+ precursor, and the methyl donor SAM. In their 2018 paper, 5-amino-1MQ inhibited NNMT with an IC50 of about 1 µM, crossed cell membranes well, barely affected the related enzymes they tested, and raised NAD+ and SAM and reduced fat build-up in mouse fat cells grown in dishes.[1]

That paper and a 2019 follow-up declared no conflicts of interest; the 2018 work was funded in part by a university technology commercialization award.[1][2] From 2021, the group's papers disclose that the senior author, Stanley Watowich, founded Ridgeline Therapeutics and that coauthors are or were its employees; the 2021 paper calls 5-amino-1MQ "our proprietary NNMTi compound."[3][4][5][7]

The fat studies

Weight loss in obese mice, at injected doses

In the 2018 study, 18 obese male mice on a high-fat diet were split into two groups of 9. One group got three injections under the skin a day of 20 mg/kg for 11 days; the other got saline. The treated mice lost 2.0 g, about 5.1% of body weight, while the controls gained 0.6 g, and food intake did not differ. Their epididymal fat pads were about 35% lighter and total cholesterol about 30% lower. The dose was chosen from an escalation test in 2 mice.[1]

The 2021 study tested the drug only alongside a diet change: obese mice switched to a low-fat diet and given daily injections (8 mice) lost 6.3 g by the end, against 2.9 g in mice switched to the diet with saline injections, and lost about 29.3% of their fat mass against 2.9%.[3] No group in that study got the drug while staying on the high-fat diet, so it does not show what the drug does without the diet change.[3] A 2022 paper analyzed gut bacteria from the same mice.[7]

The 2024 study, with its in-mouse work contracted to two research companies, gave obese mice 10 or 32 mg/kg once daily under the skin for about four weeks, 8 per group. Only the higher dose separated from saline: those mice gained 0.9 g against 5.4 g on saline and 5.2 g on the lower dose. The higher dose also lowered rising insulin levels, improved glucose tolerance and reduced fatty liver in these mice.[5]

The muscle studies

Old mice, injured or exercised

In 2019, 24-month-old male mice got twice-daily injections of 5 or 10 mg/kg or saline, then had a leg muscle chemically injured. The authors reported nearly twice the regenerating fiber size and about 70% greater peak torque in treated mice, and no differences in blood chemistry.[2]

In 2024, 35 female mice aged 22 months got daily injections of 10 mg/kg or saline for eight weeks, with or without weighted-wheel running. Treated sedentary mice had about 40% greater grip strength than sedentary controls; exercise alone gave 20% and the combination 60%. Because mice were randomized by cage, the treated groups started roughly 10% heavier.[4]

In its PubMed search, pepmg found two other groups that published on the compound by name, neither on weight or muscle: a Turkish cervical-cancer cell study and a Chinese bladder-cancer study in which it reduced tumor growth in mice.[9][8][10]

Pills and vials

Two animal studies disagree on whether it is absorbed by mouth

All five weight and muscle studies above gave the compound by injection.[1][2][3][4][5] In the 2024 paper's mouse pharmacokinetic study, 3 mice given 30 mg/kg by mouth reached a peak blood level of 14.5 ng/mL after 4 hours, an oral bioavailability of 3.5%. That peak is below the 78 ng/mL at which the compound inhibits mouse NNMT by half in a test tube; even after an injection, blood levels stayed above that mark for only about 2 to 4 hours. The authors blamed limited gut absorption and heavy first-pass metabolism.[5]

A 2021 rat study, with two of the Texas group's researchers among its authors, reported the opposite: oral bioavailability of 38.4% and a mean peak of 2,252 ng/mL after oral dosing. pepmg read that paper as an abstract, which does not give the oral dose.[6] Neither study involved people, and mouse and rat absorption may not predict human absorption.

The 2024 paper also screened the compound against a commercial panel of receptors, enzymes and transporters. At 10 µM it showed no significant activity except 67.4% inhibition of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A); the authors said MAO-A inhibition might partly explain the improved glucose tolerance.[5]

Status

No approval, no 503A category, and a 503B warning letter

pepmg found no 5-amino-1MQ product in Drugs@FDA, searched through openFDA on October 26, 2026, and no study of it on ClinicalTrials.gov.[17][11] Under section 503A, a pharmacy may compound from a bulk substance with a USP or NF monograph, one that is a component of an FDA-approved drug, or one on FDA's 503A bulks list.[14] That list has six entries, none of them 5-amino-1MQ, and the compound is in none of FDA's three 503A interim-policy categories in the list updated May 14, 2026, nor on FDA's safety-risk page.[15][13][16] pepmg did not check USP monograph status.

On January 20, 2026, FDA sent a warning letter to GenoGenix, a Florida outsourcing facility, after a July 2025 inspection. It said the firm compounded drugs from 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium iodide and NAD+, which "do not appear on the 503B bulks list," so those drugs were not eligible for the section 503B exemptions, and that the firm had not documented what happened to them. FDA acknowledged the firm had stopped producing drugs. The same letter reported an NAD+ lot with excess bacterial endotoxin after three patients were sent to an emergency room.[12]

FDA's NDC directory, read through openFDA on October 26, 2026, holds four bulk-ingredient listings for 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium or its salts, from three labelers in China and one in the United States.[18] FDA says an NDC listing "does not in any way denote FDA approval."[19]

The market

One of the most widely listed compounds pepmg tracks

In pepmg's index generated October 25, 2026, 74 of the 101 vendors with listings carried 5-amino-1MQ, 144 listings in all. They include vials, capsules and tablets, and blends with NAD+ and MOTS-c .[20] pepmg makes no claim about what is in any vendor's product.

Questions people are asking