PeptideCompareAICAR — EU research guide.
AICAR (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide) is a cell-permeable AMP-mimetic that directly activates AMPK, the master metabolic switch. It is widely used in metabolic research and is prohibited by WADA.
What is AICAR?
AICAR is converted intracellularly to ZMP, an AMP mimetic that activates AMPK by simulating energy depletion. AMPK activation switches cells from anabolic to catabolic metabolism: increasing fatty acid oxidation, glucose uptake, mitochondrial biogenesis and reducing mTOR signalling. Note: AICAR is not a peptide but a nucleotide derivative; it appears in peptide research databases due to its common co-use in metabolic research.
What does the research show?
Seminal mouse studies (Evans lab, Salk Institute) showed ~44% improvement in running endurance with AICAR alone, without exercise. Extensive use in diabetes, obesity and mitochondrial disease research. AICAR activates PGC-1α and increases GLUT4 expression. The exercise-mimicking profile attracted significant sports doping research interest. No approved human therapeutic as of mid-2026.
EU legal status
Not approved as a medicine in the EU. WADA-prohibited in sport (S4 — Hormone and metabolic modulators). Available for laboratory metabolic research only.
Molecular information
Pharmacokinetics
Potency retained over time
Each line is one storage condition: it starts at 100% and falls as potency is lost. Above the dashed 80% line the material is considered reliable — hover for exact values.
⚠ A structural estimate, derived from each compound's sequence length, cyclisation and oxidation-, deamidation- and light-sensitive residues. Indicative only — not lab-measured per batch.
AICAR across EU suppliers
COA-verified EU vendors · Updated monthly
References
- The paper behind the 'exercise in a pill' phrase: in sedentary mice, 4 weeks of oral AICAR alone induced metabolic genes and increased treadmill running endurance by 44%, working through the AMPK-PPARδ pathway. This is a mouse result, not a demonstrated human endurance benefit. Narkar VA, Downes M, Yu RT, et al. Cell. 2008;134(3):405–415. DOIPubMed 18674809PMC
- The mechanism source: AICA riboside (AICAR) increases AMP-activated protein kinase activity, fatty-acid oxidation and glucose uptake in rat muscle. This defines what AICAR does at the cellular level and predates the endurance framing by a decade. Merrill GF, Kurth EJ, Hardie DG, Winder WW. Am J Physiol. 1997;273(6 Pt 1):E1107–E1112. PubMed 9435525