STUDresearch · Non-peptide
AICAR
Also known as
AICA ribonucleotide · Acadesine · 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside
Community talk. May be wrong. Not medical advice. Not a protocol. Not for human or animal use.
Non-peptide
Some talk
Systemic
SubQ / IM / Oral / IV
Performance / endurance
Systemic AMPK research tool.
What people say
An AMPK research compound that bodybuilding forums discuss for endurance and fat loss. AICAR/acadesine is a non-peptide riboside—not the same measured species as its intracellular metabolite ZMP.
Doses people talk about
These are separate reported scales, not equivalent protocols. Some notes leave route or frequency unstated; pure-product identity, cost and GW501516 co-use complicate the comparisons.
How it may feel
Early accounts focus on route, sting or GI effects, and reliable isolated benefits are hard to identify. One stacked log moved from a slight early impression to little overall difference.
Older bodybuilding discussion~100–150 mcg/day
Micro-plans appeared alongside multi-gram speculation; posters questioned low amounts versus cardarine stacks. Route is not specified in this note.
Vendor-chart comparisons~1–5 mg/day; also ~50–150 mg
The higher band has no stated frequency here; route is unspecified. These differing blog amounts are not interchangeable.
Mouse-study context~150–500 mg/kg, IP/SC
Frequency is not specified in the original note. Animal scale and human-equivalent arithmetic do not supply a human regimen.
Half-life & effect duration
- Half-life in the body
- IV acadesine / AICARAbout 1.4 hours
- Felt duration people report
- Stacked-use accountEarly positive impression, then little overall difference
- AICAR-only durationNo consistent window reported
Cycles people discuss
Short experimental blocks and weeks-on/weeks-off patterns appear in discussion, often driven by cost and caution. There is no universal forum cycle.
Timing
Reports place doses around training, sleep and tolerability. The measured IV half-life does not establish a subcutaneous or intramuscular schedule.
Stacks
GW501516 is central to the exercise-mimetic stack lore. Multi-agent logs cannot isolate AICAR's benefit or side effects.
Watch for
Unknown human chronic safety: Major gap.
Tap a line to jump into the full notes. Research only — may be wrong.
Timing context & sources
Half-life in the body
The measured post-IV parent half-life was about 1.4 hours in healthy men.
This is not SC/IM research-vial PK. The oral-solution part of the study had under-5% bioavailability; intracellular ZMP is a separate endpoint.
A later roughly one-week total-radioactivity phase is not a parent half-life; two-hour parent detectability is not felt duration.
- Dixon et al. — acadesine pharmacokinetics in healthy men (opens in a new tab)Original abstract accessed through Europe PMC core record, PMID 2037706: oral/IV 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg study and post-IV terminal half-life.Healthy men; harmonic-mean terminal parent half-life after IV. Oral bioavailability refers to solution. Not SC/IM gray-market PK, an intracellular ZMP half-life or a class-wide aminoimidazole estimate.
- Dixon et al. — radiolabeled acadesine disposition (opens in a new tab)Original abstract accessed through Europe PMC core record, PMID 8227467: four men, 15-minute IV 25 mg/kg; plasma total 14C, intact acadesine and RBC ZMP results.The approximately one-week apparent terminal phase belongs to total radioactivity, not parent acadesine. Parent detectability for two hours is not a two-hour half-life.
Felt duration people report
A reliable AICAR-only felt window is not established by the checked log.
An early positive impression was followed by little overall difference on a stack containing Helios, GW501516, RIPS and other drugs; the poster attributed the speedy feeling to Helios.
No clean single-agent onset, duration or washout. Neither AMPK mechanism nor plasma clearance supplies that missing window.
- AICAR dosing protocol — personal stack reports (opens in a new tab)Actual Odin's Son comments Sep. 11, 2012 08:45 and Sep. 15, 2012 06:30; opening question separately records plans.AICAR co-used with GW501516, Helios, RIPS and other drugs. Poster credited the speedy/thermogenic sensation to Helios. Replies misidentify AICAR as a peptide and offer unsafe animal scaling; those statements are not adopted as evidence.
What people say
- Human reality: Not a validated OTC performance drug; limited practical human protocols. forum
- Body-comp talk: AICAR is discussed for recomp, strength continuity, or soft-tissue recovery depending on class. forum
- Training confound: PRs and scale changes almost always co-travel with diet phase and programming. anecdote
- Suppression / lipid chatter: Hormonal agents in wider bodybuilding stacks bring bloodwork and PCT conversations even when marketed “mild.” This is co-use context, not evidence that AICAR itself is a hormonal agent or that it needs PCT. forum
- Endurance in animals: Classic rodent exercise-capacity narratives. animal
Doses people talk about
- Classic bodybuilding forum chaos: ProMuscle-era logs discussed everything from ~100–150 mcg/day micro-plans up to multi-gram fantasies; many posters doubted the low end did anything vs cardarine stacks. forum
- Modern vendor charts: often advertise ~1–5 mg/day or ~50–150 mg bands depending on the blog — these are not interchangeable and often ignore cost/reality of pure AICAR. forum
- Practical honesty: real pure AICAR is expensive; many “AICAR” logs are confounded by GW501516 co-use. forum
- Framing: Extremely messy dose culture — mouse mg/kg papers, WADA doping lore, and gray-market “mg” charts do not line up. Research only. forum
- Anti-doping: AICAR is prohibited; athletes treat any amount as a ban risk. trial
- Animal literature scale (not a human recipe): mouse studies commonly used on the order of ~150–500 mg/kg IP/SC — human-equivalent math is huge and not a self-experiment protocol. animal
How it may feel
- Days 1–7: Early discussion names site reactions if injected, or GI/mood changes if oral; this is not a measured AICAR onset or evidence that these effects occur in most users. forum
- Acute research: Often discussed as short experimental exposures, not lifestyle daily forever. forum
- Day 1: Route, sting or GI logistics can be more noticeable than a “miracle” effect from AICAR; these are discussion themes, not a response-rate estimate. forum
- Days 2–7: Side-effect window for many agents; benefits, if any, are easy to mis-attribute. forum
- Weeks 1–2: First honest checkpoint in self-logs. In Odin's Son's September 2012 stack log, a slight early local-fat impression was followed by little overall difference; Helios, GW501516, RIPS and other agents prevent isolating an AICAR effect. forumanecdote
Cycles people discuss
- Blocks: Short experimental blocks if discussed at all. forum
- Common pattern: Many self-protocols use weeks-on / weeks-off rather than indefinite daily use — cost and caution drive this more than hard science. forum
- No magic cycle: There is rarely one universal “correct” on/off calendar across forums. forum
- Reassess: Stop and reassess if adverse effects appear; this is not medical care. forum
Timing
- Timing practicalities: People time doses around side effects, training, and sleep more than perfect PK. forum
- PK: In healthy men studied with oral and IV acadesine at 10, 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg, the post-IV terminal parent-plasma half-life had a harmonic mean of 1.4 hours. Oral-solution bioavailability was below 5%. These figures do not establish SC/IM kinetics, intracellular AMPK-effect duration or a forum dosing interval. trial
- Published PK: In four healthy men given 25 mg/kg radiolabeled acadesine over 15 minutes IV, total plasma radioactivity had an apparent terminal phase of about a week; intact acadesine was measurable for two hours. Neither is a one-week parent half-life or a two-hour felt window. RBC ZMP is a separate intracellular metabolite. trial
More on what it is
- Not a simple oral fat-burner drug: Poor oral practicality and research-chem reality dominate honest discussion. forum
- Research posture: Educational summary of public discussion and literature themes only. forum
- How people talk about it: Forum volume is a popularity signal for AICAR, not proof it works for you. forum
- What it is: AICAR/acadesine is the non-peptide riboside research tool famous from AMPK “exercise mimetic” animal stories. Naming can blur it with AICA ribonucleotide (ZMP), the phosphorylated intracellular metabolite; they are not the same measured species. animaltrial
- Research only: Not approved advice for self-experimentation; legality and access vary by place. forum
Stacks
- With GW501516 lore: Exercise-mimetic stack stories — still preclinical-heavy. forum
- Less is clearer: Solo runs make personal n=1 easier to interpret than five-compound blasts. forum
Storage notes
- No mix instructions here: STUDresearch does not list reconstitution, diluent volumes, or syringe unit charts. People reconstitute many different ways and vial labels differ — that content creates more confusion than clarity. forum
- Storage (general talk only): Unopened research products are usually kept cool, dry, and away from light per the seller label. Anything after first use is product-specific — follow the label, not a universal forum SOP. forum
Watch for
- Unknown human chronic safety: Major gap. forum
- Cost / practicality: Often the real limiter. forum
- Injection site (if injected): Redness, itch, lumps, bruise — technique and product quality matter. forum
- Unknowns: Long-term safety for gray-market preparations is often poorly characterized. forum
- Stack noise: Sides logged on multi-agent stacks cannot be blamed cleanly on one compound. forum
- Seek care red flags: Severe allergic reaction, chest pain, neuro changes, or uncontrolled BP/glucose need real medical care — not forum advice. forum
Evidence mix
Mostly community / anecdote tags
Full: every bullet (trial + community). Use Scan for a faster bro-science read.