Cardarine GW-501516 — 60 caps, 10mg

iMuscle Cardarine GW-501516, 60 caps, 10mg is an iMuscle listing of Cardarine, labelled at 10 mg per capsule, 60 capsules per pack, 600 mg in total. It is supplied through the Muscle Market range for laboratory research only, is not for human consumption, and is sold to adults aged 18 and over. Below: what the published research reports, including why development was abandoned, the UK legal position, and how batch certificates are handled for iMuscle products.

About Cardarine

GW-501516 is the development code; Cardarine, GW501516, GW1516 and endurobol are the other names under which the same molecule is sold. Pharmacologically it is a synthetic PPAR-delta agonist. PPAR-delta is a nuclear receptor, and in skeletal muscle it controls genes that govern how fatty acids are oxidised for energy. GlaxoSmithKline and Ligand took the compound forward as a possible treatment for lipid disorders. Sellers often place it next to SARMs, but it never touches the androgen receptor, and despite occasional searches for "cardarine peptide" it is a small molecule of about 454 g/mol rather than an amino acid chain.

What the published research reports

In a 2008 study in mice, GW-501516 combined with treadmill training increased oxidative muscle fibres and running endurance more than training alone, and the authors described PPAR-delta and AMPK agonists as exercise mimetics; in the same paper it was AICAR, a different compound, that raised endurance in untrained mice (Narkar et al., 2008). A GlaxoSmithKline trial published in 2012, in 268 people with low HDL cholesterol, reported that over twelve weeks HDL rose while LDL cholesterol and triglycerides fell from baseline; the trial was short and not designed to assess long-term safety (Olson et al., 2012). Anti-doping researchers later summarised the clinical programme as having reached phase II trials in dyslipidaemia and metabolic syndrome (Thevis et al., 2010).

Development was abandoned in 2007 after two-year carcinogenicity studies in rats and mice found tumours in multiple organs. Those toxicology results were presented at a conference and are not indexed on PubMed, so they are not cited here, but they are the most important fact about this compound. No later human trial has been completed and Cardarine has never been approved as a medicine anywhere. Nothing above is a claim about this product.

Chemical identity

These PubChem identifiers describe the molecule a batch certificate for this pack should name.

• Systematic name: 2-[2-methyl-4-[[4-methyl-2-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-1,3-thiazol-5-yl]methylsulfanyl]phenoxy]acetic acid
• CAS number: 317318-70-0
• Formula and molecular weight: C21H18F3NO3S2, 453.5 g/mol
• InChIKey: YDBLKRPLXZNVNB-UHFFFAOYSA-N
• PubChem CID: 9803963

This listing

• Manufacturer: iMuscle
• Compound: Cardarine (GW-501516)
• Form: Capsules
• Pack size: 60 capsules
• Strength: 10 mg per capsule, as stated by the manufacturer
• Total in pack: 600 mg (10 mg x 60 capsules)
• Batch certificate of analysis: shown where iMuscle supplies one for the batch we hold
• Intended use: laboratory research only, not for human consumption, adults aged 18 and over

The 10 mg figure is iMuscle's label claim. Only an assay of the batch confirms it. To compare this pack with other Cardarine listings, work from the total milligrams per pack and the cost per milligram, as set out in price per milligram, and then check what certificate each seller holds.

Cardarine in the UK: buying, legal status and what to check

Searches such as "cardarine UK", "cardarine UK legal", "cardarine UK buy" and "cardarine for sale" come down to two questions: may Cardarine be bought here at all, and how can a buyer tell a listing that can be checked from one that asks to be trusted.

The legal position

Cardarine is not a licensed medicine in the UK, has not been assessed by the MHRA, and is not an authorised food supplement, so it cannot lawfully be sold for people to swallow. It is not a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Free Muscle sells it to adults aged 18 and over for laboratory research only, and gives no instructions for use. GW-501516 is named on the WADA Prohibited List under section S4 (hormone and metabolic modulators) as a PPAR-delta agonist and is prohibited at all times in sport. WADA issued a specific warning about it in 2013. Buyers are responsible for the rules that apply to them, including import rules for EU orders. Our research guide covers the wider legal picture for compounds sold alongside SARMs.

What a checkable UK listing shows

Many sites file Cardarine under SARMs, but the category label proves nothing. What counts is a short list of verifiable facts, set against this listing below.

What to look for	This listing
A stated strength, a unit count and a pack total that agree	10 mg per capsule, 60 capsules, 600 mg per pack
A named manufacturer and a named seller	Made by iMuscle; sold by FreeMuscle LTD, a UK company based in Scunthorpe
A certificate tied to the batch number on the pot	The manufacturer's certificate, where iMuscle supplies one for the batch we hold
Research-only terms with no usage directions	Research use only, 18+, no amounts, schedules or result claims
Tracked delivery and discreet packaging	Free tracked UK delivery in plain packaging; orders placed before 2pm Monday to Friday processed the same working day; EU delivery in 3-7 working days
A returns policy	30-day returns on unopened items, see delivery and guarantee

A listing that promises results, quotes user reviews as evidence or shows before-and-after pictures is advertising a use, which a research supplier cannot lawfully do. The fuller supplier checklist is in how to choose a SARMs supplier in the UK.

Capsules compared with other forms

Cardarine appears in three physical forms: filled capsules like this pack, liquids sold by concentration, and loose powder sold by weight. The molecule is the same; what differs is where the quantity per unit is fixed and how easily it can be verified. No published study compares these formats for GW-501516.

• Capsules. The 10 mg per capsule is fixed when powder is blended and filled at manufacture, so an assay can measure it directly and the figure cannot drift once the pot is sealed. The weak point is uniformity between individual capsules, which a pooled assay averages out.
• Liquids. Accuracy depends on the concentration being correct and on how precisely a volume is measured. Carrier solvents can evaporate from a bottle that is opened repeatedly, raising the concentration of what is left, and cold storage can cause the compound to crystallise out.
• Powder. Accuracy rests entirely on the balance and technique of the laboratory weighing it.

Because Cardarine is a small molecule and not a peptide, the argument that digestive enzymes break down peptides taken by mouth does not apply to it in the same way (see do oral peptides work). On stability, a dry powder sealed in a capsule is kept away from water and solvents, where chemical breakdown generally proceeds fastest, but we know of no published shelf-life study for any Cardarine format.

Cardarine compared with SR9009

"Stenabolic vs cardarine" is the comparison searched most often for this compound, largely because both are sold under metabolic or endurance headings. Pharmacologically they have little in common beyond being synthetic ligands of nuclear receptors.

Feature	Cardarine (this product)	SR9009 (stenabolic)
Target	PPAR-delta, a fatty acid sensing receptor	REV-ERB alpha and beta, repressors in the body clock machinery
Origin	GlaxoSmithKline and Ligand, lipid disorders programme	Academic laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute
Formula and CAS	C21H18F3NO3S2, 317318-70-0	C20H24ClN3O4S, 1379686-30-2
Human data	Short phase II lipid trials	No published human trial
Key limiting finding	Tumours in two-year rodent studies; development stopped in 2007	Evidence confined to cells and animals
Licensed as a medicine	Nowhere	Nowhere
WADA	S4, metabolic modulator, prohibited at all times	S4, metabolic modulator, prohibited at all times

SR9009 was first described in 2012, when a Scripps group reported that synthetic REV-ERB agonists altered circadian behaviour and the daily pattern of clock and metabolic gene expression in mice, raised energy expenditure, and reduced fat mass in diet-induced obese mice (Solt et al., 2012). That is a mouse study; no human trial of SR9009 has been published, so its record is shorter than Cardarine's but also lacks Cardarine's two-year toxicology data, which is absence of information rather than reassurance. Cardarine, by contrast, has human lipid data and a carcinogenicity finding that ended its development.

Neither compound is interchangeable with the other, neither is licensed, and both are sold here for laboratory research only. SR9009 listings, including iMuscle Stenabolic SR-9009, are compared in the SR9009 (Stenabolic) collection, and the background is in SR9009 (Stenabolic): the research guide.

Reading the certificate of analysis for this product

The Janoshik Analytical programme that assays every Free Muscle-brand batch, with certificates emailed on request, does not extend to this pack, because iMuscle manufactures it. Any certificate here is iMuscle's own, and we display one only when iMuscle has supplied it for the exact batch on our shelves. We will not pass off an undated or batch-free PDF as a certificate. Contact us with the product name and we will either send the document for current stock or tell you that none exists. Where one is available, these are the lines worth reading.

1. What was tested. Look for GW-501516 or Cardarine by name, and preferably CAS 317318-70-0. A heading such as "PPAR agonist" or "SARM" could describe dozens of substances.
2. How identity was shown. A matching retention time on HPLC against a reference standard is the basic check. Where LC-MS was run, the measured mass ought to fit C21H18F3NO3S2 at 453.5 g/mol, which is harder to fake or misread.
3. Purity figure. Normally a percentage of total peak area on the chromatogram. A high number means few contaminants were seen; it does not reveal the milligram content of a capsule.
4. Measured milligrams. An assay result in mg per capsule is what tests iMuscle's 10 mg claim. Without it, the 600 mg pack total rests on the label alone.
5. Lot and date. Compare the lot on the report with the lot on the pot; a mismatch means the report describes other stock. The date tells you how long ago the sample was analysed.
6. Issuing laboratory. A named laboratory can be asked to confirm that the report is genuine.

A missing field is information in itself: whatever the certificate does not measure remains a label claim. Our lab tests page and how to read a certificate of analysis explain the documents in more detail.

Detection, sport and testing

GW-501516 has been on the WADA Prohibited List since January 2009, when it was first classed as a gene doping agent; it now sits in section S4 among the metabolic modulators and is prohibited in and out of competition (Thevis et al., 2010). Anti-doping rules apply strict liability, so an athlete is responsible for any prohibited substance in a sample regardless of how it got there, including through a mislabelled product.

Testing does not rely on finding the unchanged compound. The Cologne anti-doping laboratory synthesised the two main urinary metabolites, a sulfoxide and a sulfone formed by oxidation of the sulphur atom, confirmed their structures by high-resolution mass spectrometry and NMR, and validated a routine screening method with a reported limit of detection of 0.1 ng/ml in urine (Thevis et al., 2010). Numerous sanctions have followed.

We know of no verified published figure for how long Cardarine or its metabolites remain detectable after exposure, so the accurate statement for this product is: detectable, window not established. The lack of a published window is not evidence that the window is short.

Storage, stability and handling

No published stability study covers Cardarine capsules, so the expiry or best-before date printed by iMuscle is the working limit, and any certificate describes the batch on its test date rather than today.

• Keep the original pot. The lot number on the label is what links the capsules to a certificate; capsules moved to another container lose that link.
• Cool, dry and dark. Store below room temperature where possible, away from radiators and sunny windowsills, and away from bathroom or kitchen humidity, which softens gelatine shells.
• Keep a record. Write down when the seal was broken, and give any aliquot sent for analysis its own label carrying the lot number.
• Check condition. If shells have cracked, turned sticky or changed colour, the contents may have changed too; quarantine them and send us the lot number.
• Laboratory practice. Gloves for any opened capsule, a work area separate from food and drink, storage beyond the reach of children and pets, and disposal through the chemical waste route your local rules set out.

Glossary

• PPAR-delta: one of three peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (alpha, gamma and delta); the delta form is widespread in muscle and is the receptor Cardarine binds.
• REV-ERB: a pair of nuclear receptors in the circadian clock machinery; the target of SR9009.
• Exercise mimetic: the description Narkar and colleagues applied in 2008, based on changes in mouse muscle, not on any human finding.
• HDL cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, one of the blood lipid measures reported in the human trials.
• Carcinogenicity study: a long-term animal study, usually two years in rodents, designed to detect tumour formation.
• Phase II trial: an early human study testing effects on a disease marker in a limited number of participants.
• HPLC: a technique that pumps a dissolved sample through a packed column so its components emerge at different times and can be measured.
• LC-MS: liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, which adds a molecular mass to the identity check.
• Sulfoxide and sulfone: the oxidised forms of GW-501516 found in urine, which anti-doping laboratories screen for.
• Limit of detection: the lowest concentration an analytical method can reliably distinguish from zero.

Related

• All brands of Cardarine we stock, compared, including Thoroughbred Labs GW-501516 and our own Free Muscle Cardarine 10mg
• All iMuscle products
• Cardarine (GW-501516): why development stopped and what the data show
• SR9009 (Stenabolic) and metabolic support collections
• Batch testing and certificates of analysis
• Delivery and returns

This product is supplied for laboratory research use only. It has not been evaluated by the MHRA, EMA or FDA. It is not a medicine, not a food supplement and not for human consumption. Sold only to adults aged 18 and over. Nothing on this page is medical, dosing or usage advice, and descriptions of published studies are not claims about this product.

References

1. Narkar VA, et al. AMPK and PPARdelta agonists are exercise mimetics. Cell. 2008;134(3):405-15. PMID: 18674809.
2. Olson EJ, et al. Lipid effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-delta agonist GW501516 in subjects with low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol: characteristics of metabolic syndrome. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012;32(9):2289-94. PMID: 22814748.
3. Thevis M, et al. Characterization of two major urinary metabolites of the PPARdelta-agonist GW1516 and implementation of the drug in routine doping controls. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2010;396(7):2479-91. PMID: 19946680.
4. Solt LA, et al. Regulation of circadian behaviour and metabolism by synthetic REV-ERB agonists. Nature. 2012;485(7396):62-8. PMID: 22460951.