This is a working overview of LC-MS/MS, written for readers who want more than a one-paragraph summary but less than a textbook.
Reviewed 2026-08-01. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
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.
Laboratory studies have examined GW501516 in cell cultures and rodents for conditions such as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and obesity. Some trials in humans were initiated, but development was discontinued after preclinical findings raised concerns about cancer in certain models. Those findings do not prove that the compound causes cancer in people, but they contributed to regulatory caution. Later reviews often describe the evidence as preliminary and insufficient for assessing long-term safety.
In the fitness and bodybuilding literature, cardarine is frequently discussed as an endurance agent or fat-loss compound, although such claims are not supported by robust clinical evidence. Online descriptions often mix animal data, user anecdotes, and marketing language. Researchers who study PPARδ agonists distinguish between receptor activation in controlled experiments and unsupervised use of unverified products. The latter introduces unknown purity, dose, and interactions, making reported experiences difficult to interpret scientifically.
| 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 |
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.
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.
Early clinical research explored GW501516 for lipid disorders, obesity, and diabetes. Some short-term human studies reported changes in HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. The development program was discontinued after rodent studies showed dose-dependent tumor formation in multiple tissues, including liver, bladder, stomach, and skin. These findings raised concerns about long-term cancer risk in humans. Because human exposure data are limited, the clinical significance of the rodent tumors remains uncertain.
Literature on cardarine often separates receptor pharmacology from toxicology. Mechanistic papers describe PPARδ activation and gene expression changes, while safety assessments focus on carcinogenicity and species differences. Questions remain about whether rodent tumors arise through PPARδ-dependent or off-target mechanisms. Another open area is how human metabolism and exposure compare with those in animal studies. Analytical methods such as liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry are used to confirm identity in biological and product samples.
GW501516 acts as an agonist at the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, a nuclear receptor that regulates gene expression. Activation shifts transcription toward genes involved in fatty acid uptake, oxidation, and energy expenditure. The compound does not bind the androgen receptor and therefore differs from anabolic steroids and SARMs. In rodent models, this metabolic shift has been linked to increased running endurance and reduced fat accumulation. The exact downstream pathways in humans remain incompletely characterized.
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.
Cardarine can be detected in biological samples and product materials using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The method separates compounds by chromatography and identifies them by mass-to-charge transitions, allowing low-level detection in urine or blood. Sample preparation often involves enzymatic hydrolysis, solid-phase extraction, or protein precipitation. Certified reference materials and isotope-labeled internal standards improve quantification. Detection windows depend on metabolism, matrix, and assay sensitivity, so no single universal window applies.
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.
the post void residual volume (PVR, ml) was significantly decreased the maximum urinary flow (Qmax, ml/s) was increased the voiding time (VT, s) was decreased This urodynamic profile is related to a lower risk of urologic complications, such as cystitis and bladder stones.
Scottish Labour suspends Wilma Brown, its parliamentary candidate for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, following reports she liked racist and Islamophobic posts on social media. 11 April – The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology says that the legal fees for Michelle Donelan came to over £19,000. Sally Bunce, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of the Tees Valley in the May election, drops out of the contest saying she does not want to split the vote against the Conservative candidate. Reform UK apologise to the family of their dropped candidate for York Central Tommy Cawkwell for "inactivity" not knowing that he had died. Joe Haines and Lord Donoughue, who were two of Harold Wilson's advisers during his time as prime minister, tell The Times that Wilson had an affair with his deputy press secretary, Janet Hewlett-Davies, during the 1970s. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is refused permission to rename its town hall complex after the late Queen Elizabeth II. 12 April – Greater Manchester Police launch an investigation into Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, over the sale of her council house amid allegations she broke electoral law by giving false information about her place of residence. Rayner pledges to step down if she is found guilty of any crime. Keir Starmer says that if elected to government, Labour will raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP. He also makes an "unshakable" commitment to nuclear weapons.
Twenty-two radioisotopes of plutonium have been characterized, from 226Pu to 247Pu. The longest-lived are 244Pu, with a half-life of 80.8 million years; 242Pu, with a half-life of 373,300 years; and 239Pu, with a half-life of 24,110 years. All other isotopes have half-lives of less than 7,000 years. This element also has eight metastable states, though all have half-lives less than a second. 244Pu has been found in interstellar space and it has the longest half-life of any non-primordial radioisotope. The main decay modes of isotopes with mass numbers lower than the most stable isotope, 244Pu, are spontaneous fission and alpha emission, mostly forming uranium (92 protons) and neptunium (93 protons) isotopes as decay products (neglecting the wide range of daughter nuclei created by fission processes). The main decay mode for isotopes heavier than 244Pu, along with 241Pu and 243Pu, is beta emission, forming americium isotopes (95 protons). Plutonium-241 is the parent isotope of the neptunium series, decaying to americium-241 via beta emission. Plutonium-238 and 239 are the most widely synthesized isotopes. 239Pu is synthesized via the following reaction using uranium (U) and neutrons (n) via beta decay (β−) with neptunium (Np) as an intermediate:
== Earliest roots == Between around 3000 and 1200 BCE, the Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians made contributions to astronomy, mathematics, and medicine, which later entered and shaped Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, a period that profoundly influenced the development of what came to be known as biology.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
==== Other territories ==== Australia. Ashmore and Cartier Islands - Special authorisation required. Belarus. Brest and Grodno - Visa not required for 10 days. China. Hainan - Visa not required for 30 days. China. Tibet Autonomous Region - Tibet Travel Permit required (10 USD). Colombia. San Andrés and Leticia - Visitors arriving at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport and Alfredo Vásquez Cobo International Airport must buy tourist cards on arrival. Ecuador. Galápagos - 60 days; Visitors must pre-register to receive a 20 USD Transit Control Card (TCT). Eritrea outside Asmara – To travel in the rest of the country, a Travel Permit for Foreigners is required (20 Eritrean nakfa). Fiji. Lau Province - Special permission required. Greece Mount Athos - Special permit required (4 days: 25 euro for Orthodox visitors, 35 euro for non-Orthodox visitors, 18 euro for students). There is a visitors' quota: maximum 100 Orthodox and 10 non-Orthodox per day and women are not allowed. India. Protected Area Permit (PAP) required for whole states of Nagaland and Sikkim and parts of states Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh. Restricted Area Permit (RAP) required for all of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and parts of Sikkim. Some of these requirements are occasionally lifted for a year. Iran. Kish Island - Visa not required. Kazakhstan. Closed cities - Special permission required for the town of Baikonur and surrounding areas in Kyzylorda Oblast, and the town of Gvardeyskiy near Almaty.
==== MeSH D12.125.166 – amino acids, sulfur ==== MeSH D12.125.166.175 – cystathionine MeSH D12.125.166.215 – cysteic acid MeSH D12.125.166.230 – cysteine MeSH D12.125.166.230.259 – acetylcysteine MeSH D12.125.166.230.310 – carbocysteine MeSH D12.125.166.230.330 – cysteinyldopa MeSH D12.125.166.230.369 – cystine MeSH D12.125.166.230.700 – selenocysteine MeSH D12.125.166.388 – ethionine MeSH D12.125.166.498 – homocysteine MeSH D12.125.166.498.050 – s-adenosylhomocysteine MeSH D12.125.166.554 – homocystine MeSH D12.125.166.676 – methionine MeSH D12.125.166.676.180 – s-adenosylmethionine MeSH D12.125.166.676.450 – n-formylmethionine MeSH D12.125.166.676.450.440 – n-formylmethionine leucyl-phenylalanine MeSH D12.125.166.676.620 – methionine sulfoximine MeSH D12.125.166.676.620.125 – buthionine sulfoximine MeSH D12.125.166.676.900 – selenomethionine MeSH D12.125.166.676.950 – vitamin u MeSH D12.125.166.786 – penicillamine MeSH D12.125.166.786.500 – s-nitroso-n-acetylpenicillamine MeSH D12.125.166.800 – thiopronine MeSH D12.125.166.893 – thiorphan
See polycythemia vera for management of primary polycythemia, which involves reducing thrombotic risk, symptom amelioration and monitoring for further hematologic complications. Treatment can include phlebotomy, aspirin, and myelosuppressive or cytoreductive medications based on risk stratification. For secondary polycythemia, management involves addressing the underlying etiology of increased erythropoeitin production, such as smoking cessation, CPAP for sleep apnea, or removing any EPO-producing tumours. Phlebotomy is not typically recommended for patients with physiologic polycythemia, who rely on additional red cell mass for necessary oxygen delivery, unless the patient is clearly symptomatic and experiences relief from phlebotomy. It is unclear if patients with secondary polycythemia are at elevated thrombotic risk, but aspirin can be considered for patients at elevated cardiovascular risk or for patients with Chuvash polycythemia. The first-line treatment for post-transplant erythrocytosis specificity is angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers.
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.
It binds and activates PPARδ, a nuclear receptor that influences gene expression related to fatty acid metabolism and energy balance. This mechanism has been studied mainly in animals and cell models, not established as a safe human therapy.