5-Amino-1MQ research notes — September 2026
A live literature and trial-registry check this month found one new preclinical paper on the NNMT-inhibitor target class and no new work on 5-Amino-1MQ itself. Human data on the compound still does not exist. What changed, what didn't, and where the full evidence record lives.
5-Amino-1MQ is a small-molecule inhibitor of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) studied in rodent models of diet-induced obesity, aged skeletal muscle and sarcopenia. The full study list — every paper, its model and what it found — lives at the compound's research entry and is not repeated here.
This post is dated commentary for researchers and laboratory personnel tracking the literature: what a fresh search of PubMed and the clinical-trial registries turned up this run, whether anything closed the human-data gap that has defined this compound's evidence base since it first drew interest, and what a genuine change in that picture would look like.
Key takeaways
- No paper administering 5-Amino-1MQ itself has been published since the most recent addition to the compound's research entry (an April 2026 review of NNMT-inhibitor clinical translation prospects).
- A live check of ClinicalTrials.gov this run returned zero registered studies naming 5-Amino-1MQ — the human-data gap is unchanged.
- The wider NNMT-inhibitor target class is still active: a September 2026 paper tested a different inhibitor, in a skin-fibrosis model, in mice — evidence the target is being explored more broadly, not evidence about 5-Amino-1MQ or about people.
- The April 2026 review that already sits in the compound's evidence record describes NNMT-inhibitor clinical translation as an emerging prospect, not an established one — that framing still holds.
- The full study list, evidence-maturity rating and identifiers stay at /research/5-amino-1mq; this page adds only what changed.
What a live literature check turned up this run
PubMed's E-utilities were queried this run for '5-amino-1-methylquinolinium', '5A1MQ' and 'nicotinamide N-methyltransferase inhibitor', restricted to records not already cited on the compound's research entry. Most hits were reviews or studies of other NNMT-inhibitor chemotypes applied to cancer, fibrosis and kidney disease — target-validation work for the enzyme, not new findings about this specific compound.
One record stood out on relevance and recency: a study published online in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology on 9 September 2026 testing a bisubstrate NNMT inhibitor, a different molecule to 5-Amino-1MQ, in cultured skin fibroblasts and a mouse model of bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis. It reported that the inhibitor suppressed profibrotic gene expression and reduced dermal thickening in the animal model. It says nothing about 5-Amino-1MQ specifically and nothing about metabolic or obesity research, the area this compound's own evidence base concentrates on — it is included here as a sign of where NNMT-inhibitor research is moving, not as an addition to this compound's study list.
Still no human data
The question searched most often alongside this compound's name is whether human studies exist. As of this run, they do not. A live query of ClinicalTrials.gov for '5-amino-1MQ' returned no registered studies, matching every prior check run against this topic.
The closest thing to a translation update in the literature is the April 2026 review already cited on the research entry, which assessed NNMT inhibitors broadly and described their clinical prospects as emerging — improved binding affinity and safety profiles in newer inhibitor chemistries, set against still-unresolved questions about long-term consequences of sustained NNMT inhibition. Nothing published since has moved that assessment forward for 5-Amino-1MQ specifically.
The inhibitor class is moving into new disease areas — not into people
The September 2026 fibrosis paper is worth noting precisely because of what it is not: it is not 5-Amino-1MQ, and it is not a metabolic or obesity study. NNMT-inhibitor research, as a field, keeps expanding into new preclinical territory — fibrosis joins the cancer, cardiovascular and kidney-disease work already on record for the enzyme as a target. That breadth is a signal of general scientific interest in NNMT biology; it does not add evidence for 5-Amino-1MQ's own effects, since it used a differently structured molecule in an unrelated disease model.
Reading these two facts together against each other is the honest position: the target enzyme is drawing more preclinical attention across more disease areas, while the specific compound this page tracks has had no new experimental work and no movement toward human study in the same period.
Reading the field without overreading it
Coverage of 5-Amino-1MQ elsewhere sometimes treats the 2014 knockdown finding that started interest in NNMT, or the rodent weight and muscle-function studies that followed, as though they settled a question the literature has not actually answered for people. None of the rodent findings, however consistent across studies, substitutes for a human trial; none has been paired with one.
The honest summary has not changed this run: the evidence base for 5-Amino-1MQ is entirely preclinical, and the wider NNMT field's growth — including this month's fibrosis paper — has not narrowed that gap.
What would actually change the picture
A handful of concrete developments would move this compound's evidence rating; none has happened yet. These are the items worth checking a live registry or database for, rather than taking on trust from secondary coverage.
- 01
A registered human trial
A ClinicalTrials.gov (or equivalent regional registry) entry naming 5-Amino-1MQ, at any phase, would be the first concrete step — none exists as of this run.
- 02
Published human pharmacokinetics
Absorption, distribution and elimination data in a human trial would be the first evidence the compound behaves in people the way the rodent models predict.
- 03
A study using 5-Amino-1MQ itself, not a related chemotype
Reviews and other inhibitors' findings describe the NNMT target, not this compound; a claim about 5-Amino-1MQ needs a study that actually used it.
- 04
Independent replication
Several of the core rodent findings share authors — Neelakantan H and Watowich SJ, for example, appear on the 2018 discovery paper and again on later dosing and biomarker studies. Replication by a fully unaffiliated laboratory would strengthen the preclinical base on its own terms.
Common questions.
- Is there 5-amino-1mq research in human studies?
No. As of this check, no human trial of 5-Amino-1MQ has been published or registered. A live search of ClinicalTrials.gov this run returned zero studies naming the compound. Every published finding comes from rodent models or in vitro enzymology.
- What is new in 5-amino-1mq research this year?
A live literature check this run found no new study that administered 5-Amino-1MQ itself since the compound's research entry was last updated. The wider NNMT-inhibitor target class did see new preclinical work, including a September 2026 study of a different inhibitor in a mouse skin-fibrosis model — evidence the enzyme is drawing broader research interest, not new evidence about this specific compound.
- How many 5-amino-1mq studies exist?
The full, individually cited list — with each study's model, tier and finding — is maintained at the compound's research entry rather than restated here, because that list changes independently of any single dated post. As of this run it remains entirely preclinical: rodent models and in vitro enzymology, with no human study among them.
- Does new NNMT inhibitor research apply to 5-Amino-1MQ?
Not automatically. Newer NNMT-inhibitor papers, including recent work in fibrosis and cancer models, generally test different molecules with different chemical structures than 5-Amino-1MQ. They support NNMT as a research target in general; they are not findings about this specific compound unless the study actually used it.
Sources
- 01A Bisubstrate Inhibitor of NNMT Suppresses Myofibroblast Reprogramming to Mitigate Skin Fibrosis — Saba K, et al., Journal of Investigative Dermatology (2026), PMID 42716212
- 02ClinicalTrials.gov search for "5-amino-1MQ" — 0 registered studies (checked live 2026-09-18)
- 03Emerging opportunities for nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) inhibitor clinical translation — Puleo N, et al., Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (2026), PMID 42067476
- 04Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase inhibition mitigates obesity-related metabolic dysfunction — Babula JJ, et al. (Watowich SJ, Neelakantan H co-authors), Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism (2024), PMID 39161060