Cardarine (GW501516) is a synthetic agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, developed at GlaxoSmithKline as a treatment for dyslipidaemia.
Amounts reported for Cardarine are listed under Reported protocols, each with its source and study kind. No amount ladder is inferred from them. This is educational source context, not a protocol or recommendation.
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Human study rows are described per source under Reported protocols; they belong to their trial populations and are not a general amount.
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What published studies and recent community write-ups report about amounts, timing and course length. 3 clinical, 2 preclinical and 1 community-reported rows, each linked to its source. These are descriptions of what others report, not instructions, and nothing here is medical advice.
| Context | Dose | Frequency | Route | Course | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical3 rows | |||||
| First administration to humans, healthy volunteers24 healthy volunteers, hospitalised and sedentary throughout | 2.5 mg (n=9) or 10 mg (n=9) against placebo (n=6) | Once daily | Oral | 2 weeksNone described | Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (PubMed)2007 |
| HDL cholesterol rose in both treated groups, against a fall of 11.5% in the placebo group. Serum triglycerides trended down at 10 mg without reaching significance, while triglyceride clearance after a fat-feeding challenge improved on drug. The report is a lipid study: it records no safety analysis, and the total sample is 24 people over 2 weeks. | |||||
| Metabolic syndrome features, moderately overweight men6 healthy moderately overweight men per group, in a three-group randomised double-blind design | 10 mg | Once daily | Oral | 2 weeksNone described | Diabetes (PubMed)2008 |
| Fasting triglycerides fell 30%, apolipoprotein B 26%, LDL cholesterol 23% and insulin 11%, with liver fat down 20% and urinary isoprostanes down 30%. HDL cholesterol was unchanged in this trial, a null result where the other three human studies reported increases. A PPAR-alpha comparator moved only triglycerides. Six men per arm is a very small sample. | |||||
| Largest trial, low HDL cholesterol268 patients with HDL cholesterol below 1.16 mmol/L, plus a second exploratory group of 37 | 2.5, 5.0 or 10.0 mg | Daily | Oral | 12 weeks, the longest human exposure ever publishedNone described | Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (PubMed)2012 |
| At 10 mg, HDL cholesterol rose up to 16.9% and apoA-I 6.6%, while LDL cholesterol fell 7.3%, triglycerides 16.9%, apoB 14.9% and free fatty acids 19.4%. The exploratory group showed very LDL particles down 19%, intermediate-density lipoprotein down 52% and HDL particle number up 10%. These are lipid endpoints only; no muscle, strength or endurance outcome was measured in any human trial of this compound. | |||||
| Preclinical2 rows | |||||
| Exercise-mimetic mouse study, the origin of the endurance claimsMale C57BL/6J mice, 8 weeks old, 9 per cohort with 6 per group run | 5 mg/kg/day | Daily | Oral gavage in mice | 4 weeks, with or without 4 weeks of treadmill trainingNot applicable | Cell (PubMed Central)2008 |
| In sedentary mice the drug changed oxidative muscle gene expression but did not improve running endurance. Only when the same dose was paired with four weeks of treadmill training did running time rise 68% and distance 70% against trained controls. The widely repeated figure of a 70% endurance gain comes from that trained arm and carries the training requirement with it. A separate 44% figure belongs to AICAR, a different compound tested in parallel at 500 mg/kg/day. Animal milligram-per-kilogram amounts do not translate to human doses. | |||||
| Two-year rodent carcinogenicity studies that ended the programmeRats and CD1 mice in 104-week bioassays run for the sponsor | 3-40 mg/kg/day in rats; 10-80 mg/kg/day in mice | Daily | Oral gavage | 104 weeksNot applicable | Community resource2026 |
| Tumours considered treatment related were reported across liver, stomach, tongue, skin, bladder, thyroid, testes, ovary and uterus, at all doses tested in rats, with increased female mortality at all doses; the mouse study found liver and stomach tumours with combined squamous cell tumours at all doses and reduced survival from 30 mg/kg/day. Both studies exist only as 2009 Society of Toxicology conference abstracts and were never peer-reviewed or published in full. Neither abstract states a tumour incidence percentage, so figures such as a ninety per cent incidence trace to no source. This ledger retrieved and read both abstracts verbatim. | |||||
| Community-reported1 row | |||||
| What is actually in products sold online | Label amount matched laboratory analysis in only 18 of 44 products | Not stated | Products bought from internet suppliers and analysed under anti-doping procedures | Not stated | JAMA (PubMed)2017 |
| This JAMA analysis bought 44 products marketed as selective androgen receptor modulators and found that 52% contained a SARM, while 39% contained a different unapproved drug, this compound among them. No active compound at all was detected in 9%, substances absent from the label were present in 25%, and the stated amount differed substantially from the measured amount in 59%. A product sold under this name may contain something else, or a different quantity than the label claims. | |||||
Every human exposure on record is a lipid trial: 2 weeks at 2.5 or 10 mg in healthy volunteers, 2 weeks at 10 mg in overweight men, 6 weeks at 2.5 mg in a crossover study and 12 weeks at 2.5 to 10 mg in 268 patients. Nothing longer than twelve weeks has ever been given to a person in a published study.
The studies that decided the compound's fate ran for two years of daily gavage in two species. They are the reason no regulator will see an application for it, and they are the single most important thing to know about the molecule.
Marketing copy for this compound carries endurance percentages, half-life figures and reassurances about hormonal safety that cannot be traced to any primary source. The endurance numbers belong to a trained-exercise arm or to a different drug, no published human trial reports a pharmacokinetic parameter, and no human study measured testosterone or gonadotropins during administration.
Plus 1 community resource (a dosing guide, forum thread or vendor write-up), reported above but not linked.
Cardarine (GW501516) is a synthetic agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, developed at GlaxoSmithKline as a treatment for dyslipidaemia and never approved as a medicine in any country. Four human trials were published between 2007 and 2012, all of them measuring lipids and lipoproteins at 2.5 to 10 mg a day, the longest running twelve weeks. Development was terminated after two 104-week rodent carcinogenicity studies linked the compound to tumours in multiple organs at every dose tested, and it has been prohibited in sport at all times since 2009.
These themes describe recurring questions in published research. They are not claims of effectiveness or recommendations for use.
Energy balance, body composition and incretin signaling.
Androgen receptor modulators, myostatin pathways and exercise-mimetic research.
HDL cholesterol rose in both treated groups, against a fall of 11.5% in the placebo group. Serum triglycerides trended down at 10 mg without reaching significance, while triglyceride clearance after a fat-feeding.
Fasting triglycerides fell 30%, apolipoprotein B 26%, LDL cholesterol 23% and insulin 11%, with liver fat down 20% and urinary isoprostanes down 30%. HDL cholesterol was unchanged in this trial, a null result where the.
At 10 mg, HDL cholesterol rose up to 16.9% and apoA-I 6.6%, while LDL cholesterol fell 7.3%, triglycerides 16.9%, apoB 14.9% and free fatty acids 19.4%. The exploratory group showed very LDL particles down 19%.
In sedentary mice the drug changed oxidative muscle gene expression but did not improve running endurance. Only when the same dose was paired with four weeks of treadmill training did running time rise 68% and distance.
Study models remain visible so laboratory and animal findings are not mistaken for established human outcomes.
3 protocol rows on this page come from human trials, trial registrations, regulator labels or reviews of human data. Approval status and populations are stated per row.
2 protocol rows describe animal, cell or toxicology work. Amounts from these rows do not translate to people.
1 row record what blogs, vendor write-ups or forums describe for Cardarine. None has been verified against primary literature.
Sequence, synonyms and registry identifiers as recorded in PubChem, the National Library of Medicine's open chemistry database. Formula, mass and CAS number are summarized at the top of the page.
GW501516, GW-501516, GW1516, GSK-516, Endurobol, UNII 7I2HA1NU22, CHEBI:73726, DTXSID3041037
YDBLKRPLXZNVNB-UHFFFAOYSA-N
2-[2-methyl-4-[[4-methyl-2-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-1,3-thiazol-5-yl]methylsulfanyl]phenoxy]acetic acid
7 curated references, each with its journal, year and study model, plus 1 community resource reported but not linked.