Everything below concerns unapproved substance. We keep the language plain, cite what the science says, and separate well-supported claims from open questions.
Updated 2026-06-02. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.
Regulatory bodies treat GW501516 as a prohibited substance in competitive sport. The World Anti-Doping Agency added it to the prohibited list, and it falls under classes covering metabolic modulators and hormone-related agents. It is not approved by drug regulators for human use, and it is not a lawful dietary supplement. Products sold under the cardarine name may contain unlisted ingredients or different compounds. Because no approved product exists, quality and identity are not guaranteed by pharmaceutical manufacturing standards.
Cardarine is a common name for the investigational chemical GW501516, also written GW-1516. It was developed as a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta agonist for metabolic conditions such as dyslipidemia. Early research focused on lipid handling and energy use in skeletal muscle and other tissues. The compound was never approved as a medicine. In public discussion, it is often grouped with performance-enhancing substances, although its receptor target differs from that of anabolic steroids or selective androgen receptor modulators. Regulatory and health authorities have issued warnings about its use.
GW501516 acts on PPARδ, a nuclear receptor that helps regulate fatty acid oxidation and energy homeostasis. In animal studies, activation of this receptor was associated with increased endurance and changes in lipid metabolism. Human trials examined effects on blood lipids and other metabolic markers, but the compound did not advance to approval. Rodent studies later reported tumors in multiple tissues at doses used in those experiments. Whether those findings translate to human risk remains uncertain, and the clinical relevance of the animal data is still debated.
Analytical laboratories typically identify cardarine and its metabolites using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Urine is a common matrix in anti-doping testing, while blood and tissue may be used in research settings. Detection windows depend on the assay, the sample matrix, and the compound's metabolism. Because cardarine is extensively metabolized, laboratories often target specific metabolites to improve sensitivity and confirmation. Reference standards are required for reliable quantification. Method validation includes checks for selectivity, linearity, and carryover.
A persistent misconception is that cardarine is a fat-burning drug or a safe alternative to anabolic steroids. No approved therapeutic product exists, and human safety data are limited. The tumor findings in rodents remain a central concern in scientific reviews. Products sold online may contain inaccurate labels, impurities, or different compounds entirely, which complicates any assessment of effects. Independent testing of such products has reported frequent mislabeling. For these reasons, discussions in the literature emphasize risks and unknowns rather than benefits.
Cardarine is not approved for human therapeutic use in any major jurisdiction. It appears on the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List as a PPARδ agonist within the hormone and metabolic modulators category. Sports organizations test for it because it has been detected in athlete samples and seized products. Regulatory actions against marketed research chemical versions have occurred in several countries, though enforcement varies. Availability through unregulated channels complicates oversight.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Common name | Cardarine | Common internet and media name. |
| Research code | GW501516 | Also written GW-1516. |
| Drug class | PPARδ agonist | Not a selective androgen receptor modulator. |
| Development status | Discontinued | Clinical development halted after rodent cancer findings. |
| Regulatory status | Prohibited in sport | Listed by WADA; not approved as medicine. |
Legal status varies by country. In some places, cardarine is controlled under medicines or psychoactive substances laws; in others, it may be sold with minimal oversight as a research chemical. Customs agencies have intercepted shipments, and several national health agencies have issued warnings about products marketed for bodybuilding or performance enhancement. The lack of a standardized pharmaceutical supply means identity, purity, and contamination levels can differ widely between samples. These factors make cardarine a regulatory and public health concern rather than a conventional prescription drug.
Cardarine is a common name for GW501516, a synthetic compound first described in the 1990s as a selective agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta. It was studied in preclinical models for metabolic and cardiovascular conditions, but it has not been approved as a medicine in the United States, Europe, or other major jurisdictions. Retail products labeled as cardarine are generally research chemicals or supplements, not pharmaceutical formulations. Because human safety and efficacy data remain limited, regulatory agencies treat it as an unapproved substance rather than a therapeutic product.
The compound is typically described as a laboratory compound rather than a therapeutic product. Published reports have explored its role in lipid disorders, insulin sensitivity, and exercise metabolism, yet no major drug regulator has approved it for medical use. Commercial samples sold under the cardarine name may vary in purity and identity. Analytical confirmation is therefore necessary when the material is discussed in scientific or regulatory contexts. Its classification as a prohibited substance in sport further shapes how it is studied and reported.
Cardarine is a common name for GW501516, a synthetic compound studied for its effects on lipid and glucose metabolism. It functions as an agonist at peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, or PPARδ, a nuclear receptor that influences gene expression. The molecule is not a steroid, nor is it a selective androgen receptor modulator. It is also known in research and sports literature as GW-501516 and endurobol. Early laboratory work examined its metabolic activity in cell cultures and animal models.
==== MeSH D12.776.167.200.067 – cdc2-cdc28 kinases ==== MeSH D12.776.167.200.067.249 – cdc2 protein kinase MeSH D12.776.167.200.067.500 – cdc28 protein kinase, s cerevisiae MeSH D12.776.167.200.067.875 – cyclin-dependent kinase 5 MeSH D12.776.167.200.067.900 – cyclin-dependent kinase 9
===== Distribution ===== LSD manufacturers and traffickers in the United States can be categorized into two groups: A few large-scale producers and an equally limited number of small, clandestine chemists, consisting of independent producers who, operating on a comparatively limited scale, can be found throughout the country. As a group, independent producers are of less concern to the Drug Enforcement Administration than the large-scale groups because their product reaches only local markets. Many LSD dealers and chemists describe a religious or humanitarian purpose that motivates their illicit activity. Nicholas Schou's book Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World describes one such group, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. The group was a major American LSD trafficking group in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the second half of the 20th century, dealers and chemists loosely associated with the Grateful Dead like Owsley Stanley, Nicholas Sand, Karen Horning, Sarah Maltzer, "Dealer McDope", and Leonard Pickard played an essential role in distributing LSD.
== Mechanism == The total protein concentration is readout by an increase in absorbance at 565 nm, which can then be measured using colorimetric techniques, including using microplate readers. Most common reagents, except thiols and SDS, are compatible with the assay. An optimized formulation for the assay to maximize sensitivity in microplate format was described.
A bound system is typically at a lower energy level than its unbound constituents because its mass must be less than the total mass of its unbound constituents. For systems with low binding energies, this "lost" mass after binding may be fractionally small, whereas for systems with high binding energies, the missing mass may be an easily measurable fraction. This missing mass may be lost during the process of binding as energy in the form of heat or light, with the removed energy corresponding to the removed mass through Einstein's equation E = mc2. In the process of binding, the constituents of the system might enter higher energy states of the nucleus/atom/molecule while retaining their mass, and because of this, it is necessary that they are removed from the system before its mass can decrease. Once the system cools to normal temperatures and returns to ground states regarding energy levels, it will contain less mass than when it first combined and was at high energy. This loss of heat represents the "mass deficit", and the heat itself retains the mass that was lost (from the point of view of the initial system). This mass will appear in any other system that absorbs the heat and gains thermal energy. For example, if two objects are attracting each other in space through their gravitational field, the attraction force accelerates the objects, increasing their velocity, which converts their potential energy (gravity) into kinetic energy.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Aluminium is extracted by dissolving its oxide Al2O3 in molten cryolite Na3AlF6 and then by high temperature electrolytic reduction. Selenium is produced by roasting the coinage metal selenides X2Se (X = Cu, Ag, Au) with soda ash to give the selenite: X2Se + O2 + Na2CO3 → Na2SeO3 + 2 X + CO2; the selenide is neutralized by sulfuric acid H2SO4 to give selenous acid H2SeO3; this is reduced by bubbling with SO2 to yield elemental selenium. Polonium and astatine are produced in minute quantities by irradiating bismuth.
Cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and other such drugs continued to be legally available without prescription as long as they were labeled. It is estimated that sale of patent medicines containing opiates decreased by 33% after labeling was mandated. In 1906 in Britain and in 1908 in Canada "laws requiring disclosure of ingredients and limitation of narcotic content were instituted". The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 restricted the manufacture and distribution of opiates, including laudanum, and coca derivatives in the US. This was followed by France's Loi des stupéfiants in 1916, and Britain's Dangerous Drugs Act in 1920. Laudanum was supplied to druggists and physicians in regular and concentrated versions. For example, in 1915, Frank S. Betz Co., a medical supply company in Hammond, Indiana, advertised Tincture of Opium, U.S.P., for $2.90 per lb., Tincture of Opium Camphorated, U.S.P, for 85 cents per lb., and Tincture of Opium Deodorized, for $2.85 per lb. Four versions of opium as a fluid extract were also offered: (1) Opium, Concentrated (assayed) "For making Tincture Opii (Laudanum) U.S.P. Four times the strength of the regular U.S.P." tincture, for $9.35 per pint; (2) Opium, Camphorated Conc. "1 oz. making 8 ozs. Tr. Opii Camphorated U.S.P (Paregoric)" for $2.00 per pint; (3) Opium, Concentrated (Deodorized and Denarcotized) "Four times the strength of tincture, Used when Tinct. Opii U.S.P. is contraindicated" for $9.50 per pint, and (4) Opium (Aqueous), U.S.P., 1890, "Tr. (assayed) Papaver Somniferum" for $2.25 per pint.
US and Canada: Pentacarinat 300 injection powder 300 mg vial (Avantis Pharma Inc - Canada) Pentam 300 (APP Pharmaceuticals LLC - US) Pentamidine isethionate 300 mg for injection (David Bull Laboratories LTD - Canada, Hospira Healthcare Corporation - Canada) International Brands: Pentamidine isethionate (Abbott) Pentacarinat (Sanofi-Aventis) Pentacrinat (Abbott) Pentam (Abbott) Pneumopent
Nicholas Kemmer of the Cambridge team independently proposed the same name, based on the same reasoning as the Berkeley team. Seaborg originally considered the name "plutium", but later thought that it did not sound as good as "plutonium". He chose the letters "Pu" as a joke, in reference to the interjection "P U" to indicate an especially disgusting smell, which passed without notice into the periodic table. Alternative names considered by Seaborg and others were "ultimium" or "extremium" because of the erroneous belief that they had found the last possible element on the periodic table. Hahn and Strassmann, and independently Kurt Starke, were at this point also working on transuranic elements in Berlin. It is likely that Hahn and Strassmann were aware that plutonium-239 should be fissile. However, they did not have a strong neutron source. Element 93 was reported by Hahn and Strassmann, as well as Starke, in 1942. Hahn's group did not pursue element 94, likely because they were discouraged by McMillan and Abelson's lack of success in isolating it when they had first found element 93. However, since Hahn's group had access to the stronger cyclotron at Paris at this point, they would likely have been able to detect plutonium had they tried, albeit in tiny quantities (a few becquerels).
Oswald Avery showed in 1943 that DNA was likely the genetic material of the chromosome, not its protein; the issue was settled decisively with the 1952 Hershey–Chase experiment—one of many contributions from the so-called phage group centered around physicist-turned-biologist Max Delbrück. In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick, building on the work of Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, suggested that the structure of DNA was a double helix. In their famous paper "Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids", Watson and Crick noted coyly, "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." After the 1958 Meselson–Stahl experiment confirmed the semiconservative replication of DNA, it was clear to most biologists that nucleic acid sequence must somehow determine amino acid sequence in proteins; physicist George Gamow proposed that a fixed genetic code connected proteins and DNA. Between 1953 and 1961, there were few known biological sequences—either DNA or protein—but an abundance of proposed code systems, a situation made even more complicated by expanding knowledge of the intermediate role of RNA. In 1961, it was demonstrated that when a gene encodes a protein, three sequential bases of a gene's DNA specify each successive amino acid of the protein. Thus the genetic code is a triplet code, where each triplet (called a codon) specifies a particular amino acid.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
No. Cardarine is a PPARδ agonist, while selective androgen receptor modulators act on androgen receptors. The two classes differ in receptor target and downstream effects.
Preclinical rodent studies reported cancers, including liver and bladder tumors, at tested doses. The human relevance of those findings is uncertain, but development was discontinued. No approved human product resulted.
No. It remains an investigational compound without approved therapeutic labeling. Sports regulators prohibit its use, and health agencies have warned against consuming it.
No. Cardarine has not received approval for human therapeutic use in major jurisdictions. It remains an investigational compound.