fatty acid oxidation comes up often in conversation and rarely with the context attached. Here we lay out the basics in order, then work through the practical considerations.
Updated 2026-08-01. Numbers and descriptions here follow the published literature rather than marketing material.
Handling and quality assessment of cardarine reference material follow general laboratory practices for poorly characterized compounds. It typically appears as a white to off-white powder and is sparingly soluble in water but soluble in organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide and ethanol. Storage recommendations usually specify a cool, dry, dark place, with long-term storage at low temperature and desiccation. Purity may be checked by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection, while identity is confirmed by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. No pharmacopeial monograph exists, so reported purity and stability depend on the supplier’s methods.
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.
Safety concerns emerged from long-term animal studies. In rodents given the compound for extended periods, researchers found an increased incidence of certain cancers, including liver and bladder tumors. These findings contributed to the discontinuation of clinical development. Whether similar risks apply to short-term or low-level exposure in humans is not established, and controlled human safety data are limited. The relevance of high-dose rodent carcinogenicity findings to human use remains a subject of debate.
Human trials of GW501516 were small and short in duration. They examined lipid levels, glucose handling, and other metabolic markers, but the programs were halted after the animal cancer findings. No approved therapeutic product exists, and published human data are insufficient for establishing long-term safety. Reports of use for athletic performance come mainly from non-clinical settings and cannot be verified through controlled trials. Independent testing of products sold as cardarine has found inconsistent purity and labeling.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Visual description for typical solid reference material. |
| Solubility | Poorly soluble in water; soluble in DMSO | Solubility depends on solvent, purity, and form. |
| Storage | Cool, dry, protected from light | Long-term storage often uses low temperature and desiccant. |
| Common analytical method | LC-MS/MS | Used for detection and quantification in biological matrices. |
| Common synonyms | GW-501516; GW501516; endurobol | Naming varies among literature, vendors, and databases. |
Safety discussions about cardarine frequently cite rodent carcinogenicity findings reported in the 2000s. In those studies, treated animals developed tumors at multiple sites, leading sponsors to discontinue clinical development. The relevance of these findings to humans has not been resolved, but they are a major reason the compound is not approved. Current literature emphasizes uncertainty about long-term effects and the risks of unregulated use. Regulators and health agencies have not established a safe human exposure level.
Cardarine is a synthetic compound also known as GW501516, GW-501516, and sometimes endurobol. It was developed as a selective agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, a nuclear receptor involved in fatty acid oxidation and energy metabolism. The compound was studied in preclinical models for metabolic and cardiovascular conditions, but it did not become a marketed human medicine. In regulatory and anti-doping contexts, it is treated as a prohibited substance rather than a licensed medicine.
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.
In addition, patients invariably emerged from the long course of treatment "grossly obese", probably due to glucose rescue-induced glycogen storage disease. The most severe risks of insulin coma therapy were death and brain damage, resulting from irreversible or prolonged coma respectively. A study at the time claimed that many of the cases of brain damage were actually therapeutic improvement because they showed "loss of tension and hostility". Mortality risk estimates varied from about 1% to 4.9%. Respected singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt was said to have lost much of his long-term memory from this treatment, performed on him for bipolar disorder, preceding a life of substance abuse and depression.
The neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) is a species of freshwater fish belonging to the family Acestrorhamphidae, the American characins, of the order Characiformes. The type species of its genus, it is native to blackwater and clearwater streams in the Amazon basin of South America. Its bright colouring makes the fish visible to conspecifics in the dark blackwater streams, and is also the main reason for its popularity among freshwater fish hobbyists, with neon tetras being one of the most widely kept tropical fish in the world.
== Signs and symptoms == The symptoms of ketoacidosis are variable depending on the underlying cause. The most common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and weakness. Breath may also develop the smell of acetone as it is a volatile ketone that can be exhaled. Rapid deep breathing, or Kussmaul breathing, may be present to compensate for the metabolic acidosis. Altered mental status is more common in diabetic than alcoholic ketoacidosis.
== Awards == Horecker was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1961, and received many other awards, including the presidency of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (at the time the American Society of Biological Chemists), and was the first recipient of its Merck Award in 1981. In 1952 he received the Paul Lewis Award in Enzyme Chemistry (now the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry) from the Division of Biological Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. Horecker was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, by Leopold Ružička in 1957, and by Felix Haurowitz in 1961.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== Animal studies == Several studies have shown acute peripheral administration of PYY3-36 inhibits feeding of rodents and primates. Other studies on Y2R-knockout mice have shown no anorectic effect on them. These findings indicate PYY3-36 has an anorectic (losing appetite) effect, which is suggested to be mediated by Y2R. PYY-knockout female mice increase in body weight and fat mass. PYY-knockout mice, on the other hand, are resistant to obesity, but have higher fat mass and lower glucose tolerance when fed a high-fat diet, compared to control mice. Thus, PYY also plays a very important role in energy homeostasis by balancing food intake. PYY oral spray was found to promote fullness. Viral gene therapy of the salivary glands resulted in long-term intake reduction.
CYP2D6 for which it is both a substrate and a potent inhibitor. CYP2B6 (strong) inhibitor. CYP3A4 (weak) inhibitor. CYP1A2 (weak) inhibitor. CYP2C9 (weak) inhibitor. CYP2C19 (weak) inhibitor. Paroxetine has been shown to be an inhibitor of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2).
=== Economics === In June 2020, Gilead announced that it had set the price of remdesivir at US$390 per vial for the governments of developed countries, including the United States, and US$520 for US private health insurance companies. The expected course of treatment is six vials over five days for a total cost of US$2,340. Being a repurposed drug, the minimum production cost for remdesivir is estimated at US$0.93 per day of treatment. In July 2020, the European Union secured a €63 million (US$74 million) contract with Gilead, to make the drug available there in early August 2020. In October 2020, Gilead Sciences and the European Commission announced they had signed a joint procurement framework contract in which Gilead agreed to provide up to 500,000 remdesivir treatment courses over the next six months to 37 European countries. Among the contracting countries were all 27 EU member states plus the United Kingdom, "Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, and Serbia". At the time, the price per treatment course was not disclosed; Reuters reported the price was 2,070 euros, thereby implying the total value of the contract (if all 500,000 courses are ordered) is approximately €1.035 billion. Under the contract, each participating country will directly place orders with Gilead and pay Gilead directly for its own orders.
The actual chain elongation occurs through condensation between malonyl-mtACP and the growing acyl-mtACP (with acetyl-mtACP in the first round) by 3-oxoacyl-ACP synthase (OXSM), releasing CO2 and extending the chain by two carbons. Next, the newly extended fatty acyl chain on mtACP (3-ketoacyl-mtACP) undergoes reduction by the mitochondrial 3-ketoacyl-ACP reductase (mtKAR; composed of HSD17B8 and CBR4), dehydration by 3-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydratase 2 (HTD2), and a final reduction by trans-2-enoyl-CoA reductase (MECR). The last three steps restore the fatty acyl chain to its saturated state prior to condensation, making it available for the next elongation cycle. NADPH, the electron donor required for the reduction steps, fuels the mtFAS pathway and is derived from NADP+ produced by NADK2. These steps repeat until the required chain length is reached, generating mtACP-bound fatty acyl chains ranging from C2 to C16. Since no mitochondrial acyl-mtACP thioesterase has been identified in any animal species, the final products of mtFAS remain bound to mtACP rather than being released as free fatty acids.
Adanson (1763), de Jussieu (1789), and Candolle (1819) all proposed various alternative natural systems of classification that grouped plants using a wider range of shared characters and were widely followed. The Candollean system reflected his ideas of the progression of morphological complexity and the later Bentham & Hooker system, which was influential until the mid-19th century, was influenced by Candolle's approach. Darwin's publication of the Origin of Species in 1859 and his concept of common descent required modifications to the Candollean system to reflect evolutionary relationships as distinct from mere morphological similarity. In the 19th century botany was a socially acceptable hobby for upper-class women. These women would collect and paint flowers and plants from around the world with scientific accuracy. The paintings were used to record many species that could not be transported or maintained in other environments. Marianne North illustrated over 900 species in extreme detail with watercolour and oil paintings. Her work and many other women's botany work was the beginning of popularising botany to a wider audience. Botany was greatly stimulated by the appearance of the first "modern" textbook, Matthias Schleiden's Grundzüge der Wissenschaftlichen Botanik, published in English in 1849 as Principles of Scientific Botany.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
== 2016 suspension from coaching == On 12 January 2016, McVeigh was named as one of 34 past and present Essendon players found guilty over their use of illegal supplements during the 2012 AFL season. As a result, McVeigh was suspended from involvement in football for twenty-four months, which (due to back-dating and time served in provisional suspensions) saw him suspended until November 2016. The terms of the suspension meant that McVeigh was unable to continue his assistant coaching role at Greater Western Sydney during 2016.
Yeasts, especially Candida albicans, are the most common penile infection and are rarely identified in samples taken from circumcised males. Both conditions are usually treated with topical antibiotics (metronidazole cream) and antifungals (clotrimazole cream) or low-potency steroid creams. Circumcision is a treatment option for refractory or recurrent balanoposthitis, but in the twenty-first century the availability of the other treatments has made it less necessary. Phimosis also greatly increases the relative risk of penile cancer, and neonatal circumcision has been show to nearly eliminate this risk; however, risk-benefit considerations around the use of circumcision as a cancer-preventive measure are a source of debate. Only 1% of males have phimosis by age 17. The mitigating effect circumcision has on the risk factor introduced by the possibility of phimosis is secondary, in that the removal of the foreskin eliminates the possibility of phimosis. This can be inferred from study results that show uncircumcised men with no history of phimosis are equally likely to have penile cancer as circumcised men.
In the first reaction, the two substrates are 3-phosphoglyceric acid and oxidised nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Its products are phosphohydroxypyruvic acid (i.e. 3-phosphonooxypyruvic acid), reduced NADH, and a proton. This enzyme can also catalyse the interconversion of α-hydroxyglutaric acid and α-ketoglutaric acid using the same cofactors.
=== Agricultural uses === It is used in agriculture for pest control of soil-borne pathogens such as Meloidogyne incognita or Helicotylenchus dihystera. It is also used as a mutagen for crop selection of plants such as rice, barley or oats.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Cardarine targets PPARδ, a nuclear receptor involved in lipid and energy metabolism. It does not bind the androgen receptor in the way SARMs do.
Most methods use liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Urine is common in anti-doping testing, and blood or plasma may be used in research.
Typical guidance is cool, dry, dark storage, often at low temperature and with desiccant. Stability data are limited, so storage conditions should be verified for each batch or supplier.
Rodent studies reported increased endurance and fat oxidation after GW501516 exposure. Long-term studies also found higher rates of some tumors, which led to halted development.