The short version of GW501516 fits in a sentence. The long version — which is the one that helps — is below.
Reviewed 2026-04-11. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Cardarine is prohibited in competitive sport under the World Anti-Doping Agency code, where it is classified as a metabolic modulator. It is not approved as a prescription medicine in the United States, European Union, or other major markets. Regulatory action has focused on its presence in sports and in products marketed as research chemicals. Because it has no accepted medical indication, supply is often unregulated. This status creates legal and safety uncertainties for anyone who encounters the substance.
Anti-doping laboratories detect GW501516 and its metabolites using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Urine is the most common matrix, though blood and dried blood spots may also be used in some programs. Detection depends on factors such as dose, timing, metabolism, and the sensitivity of the assay. Published methods describe limits of detection in the low nanogram per milliliter range for related compounds. Exact detection windows are not fixed for all situations and remain an area of ongoing study.
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.
Activation of PPARδ changes transcription of genes involved in fatty acid transport, mitochondrial function, and skeletal muscle fuel preference. In rodent studies, pharmacological PPARδ activation was associated with increased endurance and altered body composition. These findings generated interest in performance enhancement, but species differences and study designs limit direct extrapolation to humans. Small human trials were conducted in the 2000s and later discontinued. The extent to which cardarine produces similar metabolic or performance effects in people remains an open question.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory status | Prohibited in sport | Listed by WADA as a metabolic modulator. |
| Approved medical use | None in major jurisdictions | Not a registered drug. |
| Common test matrix | Urine | Most anti-doping samples use urine. |
| Typical detection method | LC-MS/MS | Detects parent compound and metabolites. |
| Reference standard storage | -20 °C, desiccated | Typical for analytical standards. |
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.
Regulatory treatment of cardarine differs by context and jurisdiction. In competitive sport, the World Anti-Doping Agency lists PPARδ agonists, including GW501516, as prohibited at all times. Outside sport, it lacks approval as a prescription medicine in major drug markets, and products sold for human consumption may be treated as unapproved drugs. Some countries also restrict importation or sale through general consumer protection and medicines laws. These classifications affect availability, testing, and legal risk without establishing therapeutic value.
Because cardarine is not an approved medicine, no pharmacopeial monograph defines its identity, purity, or storage requirements. Laboratories typically rely on in-house methods and reference standards when testing materials labeled as GW501516. Certificates of analysis may report purity and identity for a specific batch, but their scope varies and they do not guarantee safety or legal status. Independent verification can include high-performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and elemental analysis. The distinction between research chemical labeling and human use is significant because quality standards and oversight differ.
=== Human rights impact === Extraction of raw materials for lithium-ion batteries may present dangers to local people, especially land-based indigenous populations. Cobalt sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often mined by workers using hand tools with few safety precautions, resulting in frequent injuries and deaths. Pollution from these mines has exposed people to toxic chemicals that health officials believe to cause birth defects and breathing difficulties. Human rights activists have alleged, and investigative journalism reported confirmation, that child labor is used in these mines. A study of relationships between lithium extraction companies and indigenous peoples in Argentina indicated that the state may not have protected indigenous peoples' right to free prior and informed consent, and that extraction companies generally controlled community access to information and set the terms for discussion of the projects and benefit sharing. Development of the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, USA has been met with protests and lawsuits from several indigenous tribes who have said they were not provided free prior and informed consent and that the project threatens cultural and sacred sites. Links between resource extraction and missing and murdered indigenous women have also prompted local communities to express concerns that the project will create risks to indigenous women. Protestors have been occupying the site of the proposed mine since January, 2021.
=== Internment camps and Polish refugees === Thousands of Axis POWs and people described as "enemy aliens" were held in Southern Rhodesia during the conflict. These were mainly Italians and Germans, but there were also a handful from Iraq and the Levant; the colony furthermore hosted nearly 7,000 refugees from Poland. Britain delegated responsibility for co-ordinating investigation into enemy aliens in central Africa to the Southern Rhodesian government, which set up a system whereby the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) identified potential detainees while a body called the Internment Camps Corps oversaw the camps. Many of those held in Southern Rhodesia were sent there by Britain or authorities elsewhere in the Empire. Five internment camps were set up in two waves. No. 1 (General) Internment Camp opened to the north-east of Salisbury in October 1939 and No. 2 (Tanganyika) Internment Camp, just south of the city, opened the following year, mostly housing Germans formerly resident in Tanganyika. The first two camps together had less than 800 inmates. The third, fourth and fifth camps were set up near Gatooma, Umvuma and Fort Victoria in 1941–42 to accommodate roughly 5,000 Italians from Somaliland and Abyssinia. The Internment Camps Corps' reliance on the elderly, the infirm and so-called "friendly aliens" to staff the three new camps led to indiscipline, poor living conditions and dozens of escapes. A 1943 government commission into the quality of the internment camps reported the second wave camps to be of far worse quality than those of the first wave.
=== Adaptation === Obesity is characterized by the expansion of fat mass, through adipocyte size increase (hypertrophy) and, to a lesser extent, cell proliferation (hyperplasia). In the fatty tissue of obese individuals, there is increased production of metabolism modulators, such as glycerol, hormones, macrophage-stimulating chemokines, and pro-inflammatory cytokines, leading to the development of insulin resistance. Production of these modulators and the resulting pathogenesis of insulin resistance are probably caused by adipocytes as well as immune system macrophages that infiltrate the tissue. Fat production in adipocytes is strongly stimulated by insulin. By controlling the activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase and the acetyl-CoA carboxylase enzymes, insulin promotes unsaturated fatty acid synthesis. It also promotes glucose uptake and induces SREBF1, which activates the transcription of genes that stimulate lipogenesis. SREBF1 (sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor 1) is a transcription factor synthesized as an inactive precursor protein inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane by two membrane-spanning helices. Also anchored in the ER membrane is SCAP (SREBF-cleavage activating protein), which binds SREBF1. The SREBF1-SCAP complex is retained in the ER membrane by INSIG1 (insulin-induced gene 1 protein). When sterol levels are depleted, INSIG1 releases SCAP and the SREBF1-SCAP complex can be sorted into transport vesicles coated by the coatomer COPII that are exported to the Golgi apparatus.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
{\displaystyle {\frac {1}{\sqrt {f_{\mathrm {D} }}}}=-2\,\log _{10}\left({\frac {2.51}{\mathrm {Re} {\sqrt {f_{\mathrm {D} }}}}}\left\{1+0.305R_{*}\;\left(1-\exp {\frac {-R_{*}}{26}}\right)\right\}\right),}
In 1916 Kuo-Ching Li, a Chinese-American engineer, founded Wah Chang Trading Corporation in New York State, but it was based in Albany. He developed it as an international tungsten ore and concentrate trading company, leading the company until his death in 1961. He served as president until 1960 and then board chairman. The U.S. Bureau of Mines established Albany Research Center (ARC) on the former Albany College campus in 1942, focusing on the development of new metallurgical processes. First known as the Northwest Electro-development Facility, the site eventually produced titanium and zirconium, spearheaded by William Justin Kroll whom the bureau hired in 1945. The first zirconium strip was rolled out there in August 1946. In 1951, William Kroll joined the faculty of Oregon State College, ten miles away in Corvallis. The ARC fostered the growth of a new rare metals industry in Albany, led by internationally recognized companies such as the Oregon Metallurgical Company, Oremet, and Wah Chang. In the 1970s, Albany attempted to extend its city limits to include a zirconium processing plant of Wah Chang Corporation in order to increase its industrial tax base. Wah Chang responded in 1974 by sponsoring a vote to incorporate the desired properties as Millersburg. When the Bureau of Mines closed in 1996, the ARC was transferred to the United States Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy. In 2005 the facility became part of the National Energy Technology Laboratory.
The formation of the ring system involves first alkylation of the anion from thiophenol with dimethylallyl bromide (1) to give the thioether (2). Friedel-Crafts cyclization of the olefin with the equivalent of PPA then gives the thiopyran (3). Acylation with acetyl chloride in the presence of aluminium chloride gives the methyl ketone (4). Reaction of the enolate of that ketone with diethyl chlorophosphate gives the enol phosphate 5 as a transient intermediate. This eliminates diethyl phosphite in the presence of excess base to give the corresponding acetylene 6. The anion from the reaction of the acetylene with base is then used to displace chlorine from Ethyl 6-chloronicotinate (7). This reaction affords the coupling product tazarotene (8).
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Legal status varies by country, but cardarine is not approved as a medicine in major jurisdictions. It is often sold as a research chemical, a category that may not be lawful for human use. Buyers should check local laws and product labels carefully.
Anti-doping laboratories use LC-MS/MS to detect GW501516 and its metabolites, usually in urine. The method can identify the parent compound at low concentrations. Detection windows vary with dose and individual factors.
No, cardarine has no approved medical uses in major jurisdictions. Early research explored metabolic conditions, but those programs were discontinued. It is not a registered treatment for any disease.
Cardarine is a common name for GW501516, a synthetic PPARδ agonist. It is not a steroid or a selective androgen receptor modulator. It was developed and studied as a research compound for metabolic pathways.