The short version of Cardarine fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
This page was last updated on 2025-11-05 and is reviewed periodically as new material appears.
Cardarine is a common name for GW501516, also GW-1516, a synthetic compound developed as a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARδ) agonist. It belongs to a class of agents that modulate gene transcription related to lipid and energy metabolism. The compound was studied in preclinical and early clinical research for metabolic and cardiovascular conditions, but it did not progress to approved therapeutic use. Its name appears in fitness and sports contexts despite not being approved as a drug.
PPARδ is a nuclear receptor that influences transcription of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, lipid transport, and energy homeostasis. GW501516 binds and activates this receptor with high selectivity relative to PPARα and PPARγ in laboratory assays. Activation alters expression of target genes in skeletal muscle, liver, and adipose tissue in animal models. The exact clinical consequences of these changes in humans remain incompletely characterized, and observed effects in animals do not establish therapeutic benefit or safety.
Cardarine is explicitly prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency under the class of PPARδ agonists. Its presence in urine or blood samples can be detected using mass spectrometry-based methods, often liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Athletes who test positive may face sanctions, including bans from competition. The compound is also regulated as a prescription-only or unapproved drug in many countries. Enforcement varies by jurisdiction, and some regions treat it as a controlled substance. Online sales may occur despite these restrictions, creating quality and legal risks.
Laboratory detection of cardarine typically involves sample preparation followed by chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric identification. Urine is the most common matrix for anti-doping tests, though blood and hair have also been explored. Methods can target the parent compound or its metabolites, depending on the expected window of detection. Reference standards are required for accurate quantification. Matrix effects and dilution can influence results, so laboratories use internal standards and validation protocols. The exact detection window varies with dose, route, and individual metabolism.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical class | PPARδ agonist | Not an anabolic steroid. |
| Common synonyms | GW501516, GW-1516 | Cardarine is an informal name. |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Typical for research-grade solid. |
| Solubility class | Poorly soluble in water; soluble in some organic solvents | Such as DMSO or ethanol in laboratory settings. |
| Typical storage temperature | Cool, dry, protected from light | Specific conditions vary by supplier and form. |
GW501516 acts as a selective agonist at PPARδ, a nuclear receptor that regulates transcription of genes involved in lipid handling and energy metabolism. Activation of PPARδ in preclinical models increases fatty acid oxidation, mitochondrial biogenesis, and exercise endurance in rodents. These effects have made the compound a subject of metabolic research and also a target for sport anti-doping rules. In humans, however, controlled studies are limited, and whether similar endurance or metabolic changes occur at tolerated exposures remains an open question. The receptor’s broad tissue distribution also means downstream effects may vary by organ and condition.
Detection of GW501516 in biological samples generally relies on liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Urine is a common matrix in anti-doping analysis, while blood or plasma may be used in research settings. Sample preparation can involve enzymatic hydrolysis, protein precipitation, or solid-phase extraction before instrumental analysis. Because the compound undergoes metabolism, assays may target the parent molecule, one or more metabolites, or both. Detection windows are not fixed; they depend on factors such as dose, route, individual metabolism, and assay sensitivity. Reference standards are required for accurate identification and quantification.
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.
=== pH stability === Sucrose esters are stable in the pH range of 4 to 8, so they can be used as an additive in most foods. At pH higher than 8, saponification (hydrolysis of the ester bond to release the original sucrose and the salt of fatty acids) might occur. Hydrolysis could also occur at pH lower than 4.
. Chemical engineers once used the kilogram-mole (notation kg-mol), which is defined as the number of entities in 12 kg of 12C, and often referred to the mole as the gram-mole (notation g-mol), then defined as the number of entities in 12 g of 12C, when dealing with laboratory data. Late 20th-century chemical engineering practice came to use the kilomole (kmol), which was numerically identical to the kilogram-mole (until the 2019 revision of the SI, which redefined the mole by fixing the value of the Avogadro constant, making it very nearly equivalent to but no longer exactly equal to the gram-mole), but whose name and symbol adopt the SI convention for standard multiples of metric units – thus, kmol means 1000 mol. This is equivalent to the use of kg instead of g. The use of kmol is not only for "magnitude convenience" but also makes the equations used for modelling chemical engineering systems coherent. For example, the conversion of a flowrate of kg/s to kmol/s only requires dividing by the molar mass in kg/kmol (which is equivalent to g/mol, as
With osemozotan administration, the number of marbles buried was decreased with apparently little to no loss in motor coordination; these test results support the theory that osemozotan may be useful in the treatment of OCD. It has been noted that sensitization to cocaine may stem from action of the 5-HT1A receptor. While the role of 5-HT receptors with methamphetamine is still not certain, the use of osemozotan was found to decrease 5-HT levels in patients on repeated methamphetamine exposure; this may be a possibility for treatment of drug dependence with cocaine and methamphetamine.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== DALI === A common and popular structural alignment method is the DALI, or Distance-matrix ALIgnment method, which breaks the input structures into hexapeptide fragments and calculates a distance matrix by evaluating the contact patterns between successive fragments. Secondary structure features that involve residues that are contiguous in sequence appear on the matrix's main diagonal; other diagonals in the matrix reflect spatial contacts between residues that are not near each other in the sequence. When these diagonals are parallel to the main diagonal, the features they represent are parallel; when they are perpendicular, their features are antiparallel. This representation is memory-intensive because the features in the square matrix are symmetrical (and thus redundant) about the main diagonal. When two proteins' distance matrices share the same or similar features in approximately the same positions, they can be said to have similar folds with similar-length loops connecting their secondary structure elements. DALI's actual alignment process requires a similarity search after the two proteins' distance matrices are built; this is normally conducted via a series of overlapping submatrices of size 6x6. Submatrix matches are then reassembled into a final alignment via a standard score-maximization algorithm — the original version of DALI used a Monte Carlo simulation to maximize a structural similarity score that is a function of the distances between putative corresponding atoms.
== Further reading == Wilcox G, Fiska A, Haugan F, Svendsen F, Rygh L, Tjolsen A, Hole K (2004). "Central sensitization: The endogenous NMDA antagonist and NOS inhibitor agmatine inhibits spinal long term potentiation (LTP)". The Journal of Pain. 5 (3): S19. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2004.02.041.
Adipocyte protein 2 (aP2) is a carrier protein for fatty acids that is primarily expressed in adipocytes and macrophages. aP2 is also called fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4). Blocking this protein either through genetic engineering or drugs has the possibility of treating heart disease and the metabolic syndrome.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Cardarine is commonly known as GW501516 or GW-1516. These names refer to the same synthetic compound. It is not a brand-name approved medicine.
No, cardarine is not a steroid. It is classified as a PPARδ agonist. Its structure and receptor target differ from anabolic steroids.
No regulatory agency has approved cardarine as a medicine. It was investigated in early research but development was discontinued. It is not available as a prescription drug.
Yes, WADA prohibits cardarine as a PPARδ agonist. It appears on the prohibited list and can be detected in urine or blood. Athletes using it risk sanctions.