AICAR — 100 mg

AICAR commonly denotes 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside, also called acadesine or AICA-riboside. It is a small nucleoside molecule, not an amino-acid-chain peptide. Terminology needs care because AICAR is also used in biochemical contexts for the phosphorylated ribonucleotide; the riboside is converted inside cells to the monophosphate ZMP. A primary chemistry paper describes this phosphorylation and the resulting association with AMP-activated protein kinase, the cellular energy-sensing enzyme AMPK. [1]

Cayman Chemical markets the riboside as an AMPK research activator and summarizes cell experiments involving reduced fatty-acid and sterol synthesis, altered glucose transport, and inflammatory signaling. Those descriptions concern particular cell systems, not one universal metabolic response across tissues. [2] In the widely cited study by Narkar and colleagues, sedentary mice receiving AICAR showed altered metabolic-gene expression and a reported 44% increase in running endurance. The authors framed this as an exercise-mimetic approach to AMPK-linked pathways. [3] This is the source of much endurance-oriented language surrounding AICAR, but it remains an animal-model result. A product identity should specify acadesine/AICA-riboside versus the nucleotide rather than relying on the acronym alone.