AICAR (acadesine)
AICA riboside, GP-1-110
An AMPK activator and natural cell metabolite, not a peptide or SARM. As acadesine it was tested in heart surgery and leukaemia but never approved.
Legal status: Never approved as a medicine; sold as a 'research chemical'. Prohibited at all times in sport as an AMPK activator (metabolic modulator).
What it gives
What people use it for and what the sources report. Strength is a general category from the literature: mild, clear or strong.
Purpose
Taken for endurance and fat loss as an 'exercise pill', based on mouse studies. It is sold online as a 'research' powder and has no approved medical use.
What people seek and what studies show
In sedentary mice it raised running endurance by 44% and switched on muscle metabolic genes. In healthy people, infusions raised muscle glucose uptake in one study but not in another, and raised heart rate while lowering blood pressure. Performance in humans has never been tested. In heart-surgery patients it did not reduce deaths, strokes or heart failure.
Effects
Evidence: Limited human data — some human studies, small or short
Sought effects by goal (as reported)
Possible side effects
Possible does not mean certain: whether they appear depends on dose, duration, individual response and monitoring. Below — what to watch for and how to notice it early.
5 possible side effects
level · how often it is reportedWhat the levels mean
Level: general category from the literature, not your personal risk
How often
- common
- reported often
- possible
- reported in some people
- rare
- reported occasionally
How to lower the risks
For 2 of 5 possible side effects there are specific ways to lower the chance: everyday measures, supplements and options a doctor may consider. For the rest — general advice. No measure removes a risk completely.
Products obtained without a prescription are often fake, mislabeled or non-sterile, and there is no way to check at home. For legal supplements, look for third-party testing (Informed Sport, NSF).
What is unknown cannot be lowered, only avoided; tell your doctor what you have taken.
Drink enough water, control blood pressure, avoid regular painkillers (NSAIDs).
How each option helps (3)
- Fluid & electrolyte management — Good hydration eases kidney stress from heavy training and heat; dehydration plus NSAIDs is a classic cause of acute kidney injury.
- Regular blood tests — Creatinine reads high in muscular people and with creatine; cystatin C and a urine test give a truer picture of the kidneys.
- Working with a doctor — Investigates protein in the urine or falling kidney function and can start treatment that slows kidney damage.
Low-level side effects
How each option helps (1)
- Heart screening: ECG and echocardiogram — An ECG reveals arrhythmias, conduction problems and QT changes — important with stimulants, clenbuterol, thyroid hormone or diuretics.
Check-ups and blood tests
Which tests and check-ups to do and when. This is a guide — agree the exact schedule with your doctor.
Which doctors can help
Get medical help at once if
- Much less urine than usual, cola-colored urine, new swelling, flank pain — see a doctor now.
In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
For women
Non-hormonal, so no virilization is expected; there are no data in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Myth & fact
“AICAR occurs naturally in the body, so it is harmless.”
The body makes it in tiny amounts. Given as a drug in trials it raised heart rate and uric acid, lowered blood pressure and sometimes impaired the kidneys.
Combinations
No specific combination notes for this substance yet. The stack check still adds up side effects that several substances share.
Sources
Possible side effects by body system, combinations, how to lower the risks and which tests to do — free.
Open the stack check