5-amino-1MQ is a small molecule that blocks the enzyme NNMT, not approved and banned in sport as an unapproved substance. It has been tested only in cells, mice and rats, mostly in studies of tumor growth and of how the body handles it. PepBank shows 21 results on 5-amino-1MQ from animal and lab studies. No study in people has reported results yet. Data as of 2026-10-30.
Also known as 5-AMQ, 5MQ, Compound 1k, NNMT inhibitor, NNMTi, 5-amino-1-methylquinoline, 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium chloride and 4 more
| What it is | Small molecule |
|---|---|
| Approval | Not approved for any use |
| In sport | Banned in sport (WADA S0) |
| Studies | 7 studies with results. 4 of them gave 5-amino-1MQ, with 21 results. 9 in animals12 in lab cells |
| Clinical trials | None registered |
| Community use | Fat loss and body composition (sold for fat loss and metabolic use); Energy and a general metabolic boost; Raising NAD+ levels, often together with NAD+ injections or NAD+ precursors; Workout energy and exercise recovery; Added to a GLP-1 or other weight-loss drug |
5-amino-1MQ is a small molecule, a quinolinium salt, and it is not a peptide.1 Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, with chemists at the University of Texas at San Antonio, identified it in a 2017 screen.3
It is usually sold as the iodide salt, 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium iodide.1 Other names include 5-AMQ, 5MQ, NNMTi and 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium.1 No sponsor was found for it.3
A 2017 paper in J Med Chem screened methylated quinolinium and related compounds and found quinoliniums that block NNMT. The compound was identified in this screen.1,3
The oldest paper on 5-amino-1MQ in PepBank is from 2018. A 2018 paper in Biochemical Pharmacology tested the compound in cultured fat cells and in obese mice.1,3,4
A 2021 study in rats reported a half-life of 6.9 hours after swallowing and 3.8 hours after an injection into a vein, meaning the level in the blood fell by half in that time.1,3
A 2022 study in obese mice combined the compound with a low-fat diet and measured changes in the microbiome.1,8
The FDA sent a warning letter to a registered 503B outsourcing facility that compounded drug products with 5-amino-1-methylquinolinium iodide. The letter says drugs compounded with it are not eligible for the 503B exemptions because it is neither on the 503B bulk drug substances list nor used to compound a drug on the drug shortage list.5,9
The key facts about the molecule. Long codes are in the closed section below.
InChIKeyJPEZFBFIRRAFNR-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILESC[N+]1=CC=CC2=C(C=CC=C21)N.[I-]
Results grouped by what the studies measured. Each card shows where its results come from.
In obese mice switched to low-fat diet, NNMT inhibition decreased Erysipelatoclostridium abundance compared with vehicle. Scientific reports, 2022
In mice with bladder cancer, 5-amino-1MQ significantly reduced tumor growth, and in HeLa cancer cells in the lab it reduced cell growth as concentration and exposure time increased.10,11
Studies in people come first, then studies in animals and in the lab.
No approved medicine contains it.
No approved medicine contains it.
On the 2026 Prohibited List, section S0.
No. Not approved for any use. Preclinical research only. No clinical trial phase found. The FDA, the EMA and the other sources we use show no approval (as of 13 Oct 2026). Banned in sport (WADA S0).
Laws and labels change, so check the regulator for the current status.
PepBank has no safety result from studies of 5-amino-1MQ yet. That does not mean 5-amino-1MQ is safe.
The doses that these studies used. They are not recommendations.
| Dose as reported | Class | Species | Route | Duration | Design | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1-500 μM | Lab | Not reported | Not reported | Not reported | Study on cells in a dish | Akar 2021 |
What people report online. It comes from forums and guides, not from studies.
Community sources describe 5-amino-1MQ as a small-molecule capsule or injection that people take once a day for fat loss, energy and as an NAD+ booster. Reported oral amounts run from 25 to 150 mg a day and reported injected amounts run from 0.15 mg to 50 mg a day. No approved product or label dose exists, and sources say the amounts come from mouse work or from habit.
| Context | Route | Amount | How often | How long | Agreement | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral capsule, general fat loss and metabolic use | oral capsuletaken in the morning | 25 to 50 mg per day | once daily, in the morning | 8 to 12 weeks (S1); one poster says 'a few cycles' (S5) | sources agree on 50 mg or less, once a day, by mouth (S1, S5, S7). S1 is a compiled wiki with seller scores. S5 and S7 are forum posts on boards that carry seller links. S7 is a moderator line. | S1S5S7 |
| Oral capsule at higher amounts | oral capsulewith or without food (S2); morning (S2, S8) | 100 to 150 mg per day | once daily; S1 and S3 also report splitting into 2 or 3 doses, and one poster took it 4 to 5 days a week | 8 to 12 weeks (S1, S2); at least 1 month (S8) | sources differ on the low end: S1 and S8 give 100 mg or more, while S2 and S3 give a range that starts at 50 mg. They agree on about 100 mg a day, by mouth, in the morning (S1, S2, S8), and on up to 150 mg (S1, S2, S3). S1 carries seller scores. S3, a forum, carries seller links. S8 is a guide post on a board that links to supplier sites. S2 is a database page. | S1S2S3S8 |
| Oral capsule with a break (cycling) | oral capsule | 50 to 100 mg per day | once daily | 8 weeks on, 4 weeks off | single source (a wiki that carries seller scores) | S1 |
| Injection at about 5 mg a day | injectionposters write 'pin' and 'injectable' and do not name the injection site; most take it in the morning | 5 mg per day | once daily, in the morning (one poster: fasted) | 6 to 8 weeks, then a month off (one poster) | 2 forum threads agree on about 5 mg a day (S4, S6); both boards carry seller links. S4 also has a poster at 5 mg who says they do not plan to buy again, and another who is not seeing any benefit. | S4S6 |
| Injection at low amounts (about 0.15 to 1 mg a day) | injection | 0.15 to 1 mg per day | once daily; one reply says 5 days on and 2 days off can be used to start | 4 to 8 weeks (S7) | 3 sources give about 1 mg a day or less (S3, S4, S7); all three boards carry seller links. Sources differ on the low end: S3 relays 150 mcg a day, while S4 and S7 give 0.5 to 1 mg. S4 and S6 report 5 mg and 25 to 50 mg a day, so injected amounts differ by more than 300-fold between threads. | S3S4S7 |
| Subcutaneous injection at 25 to 50 mg a day | subcutaneous injectionthe poster writes 'sub-q' and 'per pin'; 50 mg is one full vial | 25 to 50 mg per day | once daily, no breaks (one poster) | Not stated | sources differ. One first-hand thread (S6, a board that links to a seller directory) gives 25 to 50 mg a day, and S3 only relays that some users and sites go as high as 50 mg. This is 5 to 100 times the injected amounts in S4 and S7. | S3S6 |
| Taken together with NAD+ | Not statedin S6 both are injected; S1 names NAD+ precursors | Not stated | daily; in S6 the 5-amino dose follows an NAD+ injection by about 20 minutes | Not stated | 3 sources name the pairing. Only S6 gives timing. | S1S4S6 |
Gaps
No label regimen exists: no regulator has approved a 5-amino-1MQ product, so there is no official dose, route or duration to record. No Reddit page was used, because Reddit cannot be fetched. Vendor, clinic, telehealth and compounding pages were not used as sources (they carry the usual 50 to 150 mg claims). One database site lists half-life values of 3.8 hours intravenous and 6.9 hours oral without naming a species. Those numbers match a 2021 rat study, so the page was not used. All eight community sources are wikis, forum threads or a database page, and seven of them carry seller links, seller directories or sponsor posts, so the amounts rest on compiled pages and single replies. S4 has 4 pages and only page 1 was read. S6 has 120 posts and only the first 20 show to a visitor who is not logged in. One S4 poster is flagged by the board as a banned vendor, so that poster's amounts were not used. In S3 a poster who uses 5-amino-1MQ writes '180 mcg day' in a thread that asks about the subcutaneous form, but does not name the route, so it was not used as an amount. A moderator in S7 says 'up to 50 mg every day' without naming the route, so it was not used as an amount. No source gave blood-test results, a lab-confirmed dose or a long-term (over 12 weeks) report. No harm-reduction page or news article with community amounts was found. R3 and R6 rest on one source each. The injected and oral amounts cannot be compared on a per-milligram basis, because posters do not say if they use the iodide salt or another salt. Web searches limited to elitefitness.com, meso-morph.com and longecity.org returned no 5-amino-1MQ thread.
The answer links to every study it uses.
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In PepBank now:147 peptides, 6 blends and 13 other compounds97,577 study results from 17,383 studies8,473 clinical trialsUpdated