VIP

Where it comes from

Made in

Nerves of the gut, airways, genital tract and brain; not an endocrine cell product in health

Sent out by

Nerve activity: swallowing, gut distension, sexual arousal

Acts on

• Gut smooth muscle and secretory cells
• Blood vessels
• Airway smooth muscle
• Immune cells
• The suprachiasmatic nucleus (the body clock)

What it does

• Relaxes smooth muscle in gut, vessels and airways ¹
• Drives watery secretion in gut and pancreas ¹
• Keeps the body clock’s neurons in step
• Calms immune responses in gut and lung

In medicine

• A VIP-secreting tumour (VIPoma) causes litres of watery diarrhoea; octreotide treats it ¹
• Aviptadil, synthetic VIP, is approved in some countries with phentolamine as an injection for erectile dysfunction
• Inhaled and intravenous aviptadil were trialled for COVID-19 lung failure without benefit ²

Beyond the body’s own use

• Intravenous aviptadil was tested in adults with COVID-19 respiratory failure in a randomised, placebo-controlled trial and did not improve outcomes to day 90 ²
• VIP analogues are studied for pulmonary hypertension and for sarcoidosis, where the peptide’s effect on immune cells is the rationale; neither has an approval
• A VIP nasal spray is used in protocols for “chronic inflammatory response syndrome”, sometimes called mould illness. No controlled trial supports that use, and preparations made outside the approved supply are not reviewed for safety, effectiveness or quality