Cardarine is one of those subjects where the details matter more than the headlines. This page pulls together the background, the mechanisms, and the practical points readers ask about most.
Updated 2026-06-24. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.
Cardarine is a common name for GW501516, an investigational compound developed in the 1990s for metabolic conditions. It acts as an agonist at peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, a nuclear receptor involved in lipid and energy metabolism. The compound is frequently mislabeled as a selective androgen receptor modulator, or SARM, but its molecular target is different. GW501516 reached early clinical testing before development was discontinued. It has no approved therapeutic use in any country. The name cardarine is not a formal international nonproprietary name.
Regulatory treatment varies, but cardarine is not approved as a medicine. Sports authorities list GW501516 as a prohibited substance, and it is banned at all times under the World Anti-Doping Agency code. Many countries restrict sales for human consumption, while online vendors market it as a research chemical. Such products may lack purity data, and their actual contents can differ from the label. Purchasing or possessing cardarine may carry legal consequences depending on jurisdiction. The compound is not a dietary supplement ingredient in regulated markets.
Clinical development stopped after rodent studies showed tumors at multiple sites. Whether those findings predict human cancer risk remains an open question, but they led sponsors to discontinue programs. Human safety data are limited to small, short-term studies that were not designed to assess cancer risk. Reported effects in those studies included changes in blood lipids, but the evidence is insufficient for medical use. Long-term consequences of nonmedical use are not well characterized. Questions about dose, duration, and individual susceptibility remain unresolved.
Cardarine is the common name for GW501516, a synthetic compound studied as a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta agonist. Researchers developed it to explore treatments for lipid disorders and metabolic conditions. It is not an approved medicine in any country. Early clinical work examined changes in HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, but development was discontinued after animal studies raised concerns about cancer. The compound remains available as a research chemical and appears in discussions of performance enhancement.
At the molecular level, GW501516 binds and activates PPARδ, a nuclear receptor that regulates transcription. Activation shifts expression of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, energy expenditure, and lipid transport in skeletal muscle and liver. Animal studies report increased endurance and altered lipid profiles after exposure. Human data are limited to small trials and do not establish long-term safety or efficacy. PPARδ also has roles in cell proliferation, so the relationship between activation and cancer risk remains an open question.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Common synonyms | GW501516; GW-1516; endurobol | GW501516 is the research code |
| Drug class | PPARδ agonist | Not a selective androgen receptor modulator |
| Molecular formula | C21H18F3NO3S2 | Established chemical formula |
| Molar mass | 453.5 g/mol | Calculated from the formula |
| Regulatory status | Prohibited in sport; not approved as medicine | Status varies by country |
Most people with gallstones do not have symptoms. However, when a gallstone temporarily lodges in the cystic duct, they experience biliary colic. Biliary colic is abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant or epigastric region. It is episodic, occurring after eating greasy or fatty foods, and leads to nausea and/or vomiting. People with cholecystitis most commonly have symptoms of biliary colic before developing cholecystitis. The pain becomes severe and constant in cholecystitis. Nausea is common and vomiting occurs in 75% of people with cholecystitis. In addition to abdominal pain, right shoulder pain can be present. On physical examination, an inflamed gallbladder is almost always tender to the touch and palpable (~25-50% of cases) in the midclavicular right lower rib margin. Additionally, a fever is common. Murphy's sign, pain when exhaling while pressing on the right upper abdomen, can also indicate cholecystitis. Yellowing of the skin (jaundice) may occur but is often mild. Severe jaundice suggests another cause of symptoms such as choledocholithiasis. People who are old, have diabetes, chronic illness, or who are immunocompromised may have vague symptoms that may not include fever or localized tenderness.
== Pseudoverdine == A compound related to pyoverdine, called pseudoverdine (formally known as 3-formylamino-6,7-dihydroxycoumarin) is also produced by some fluorescent Pseudomonads. It is thought that pseudoverdine and pyoverdine may arise from a common precursor, 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalanine, which may condense with L-2,4-diaminobutyric acid to initiate pyoverdine production. Pseudoverdine is relatively similar to pyoverdine in its fluorescence and other spectroscopic properties, and its ability to chelate ferric iron, albeit at much lower affinity. Unlike pyoverdine, it is incapable of transporting iron into cells, likely due to the absence of the peptide chain. Another dissimilarity is that pseudoverdine does not appear to be regulated by the same processes as pyoverdine.
== Relevance == ITGA1 has been connected to a variety of pathological conditions such as cancer progression, therapy resistance, fibrosis, and immune-mediated disorders. As the α1 subunit of the α1β1 integrin receptor, ITGA1 forms a heterodimer with ITGB1 that mediates interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM), linking extracellular cues to intracellular signaling pathways that regulate cell adhesion, survival, migration, invasion, and tissue remodeling. Dysregulation of α1β1 integrin signaling can promote tumor progression by enhancing communication between tumor cells and the surrounding microenvironment.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Another example of anti-Peruvianism, as well as anti-Chileanism and Hispanophobia, was Brown's privateering expedition to the Pacific, sponsored by the government of Buenos Aires, where ships were sent on a privateering expedition to the Pacific coast against civilians, without engaging them in a regular naval warfare against the military, whose main targets were the ports of Chile and Peru, to weaken Spanish trade, as well as Peruvian. Although the preparations were carried out in secret, some royalists from Buenos Aires tried to pass communications to Chile to prepare defense actions, but the governor of Cuyo, José de San Martín, managed to intercept those attempts. One of the main objectives of the corsairs Argentinians was the Port of Callao, which was attacked in January 1816.
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== Exact mass == The exact mass of an isotopic species (more appropriately, the calculated exact mass) is obtained by summing the masses of the individual isotopes of the molecule. For example, the exact mass of water containing two hydrogen-1 (1H) and one oxygen-16 (16O) is 1.0078 + 1.0078 + 15.9949 = 18.0105 Da. The exact mass of heavy water, containing two hydrogen-2 (deuterium or 2H) and one oxygen-16 (16O) is 2.0141 + 2.0141 + 15.9949 = 20.0229 Da. When an exact mass value is given without specifying an isotopic species, it normally refers to the most abundant isotopic species (monoisotopic mass).
=== Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics === Pharmacogenetics is defined as the study of inherited genes causing different drug metabolisms that vary from each other, such as the rate of metabolism and metabolites. Pharmacogenomics is defined as the study of associating the drug response with one's gene. Both terms are similar in nature, so they are used interchangeably. Multiple alleles can contribute together to a change in response to a drug by expressing a different form of an enzyme that responds differently than the normal ones. The different forms of enzymes (phenotypes) include ultra-rapid metabolizers, moderate metabolizers, no-enzyme activity, etc. The genetic variations can also be used to match the particular adverse drug reaction in order to prevent the patient from suffering the unfavorable outcomes. The genetic make-up can affect the pharmacokinetics.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
No. Cardarine is GW501516, a PPARδ agonist, while SARMs act on androgen receptors. The two classes are often grouped in informal discussions despite different mechanisms.
No. It has no approved medical indication in any country. Regulatory agencies have not cleared it for treatment or prevention of any condition.
Early clinical work stopped after rodent carcinogenicity findings. Those animal results raised concerns about long-term human risk, although direct human evidence is lacking. The human relevance of the tumors remains an open scientific question.
Cardarine is a common name for the investigational compound GW501516. It acts as a PPARδ agonist and is not approved for human use. It is prohibited in sport.