What Is a Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide?

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), also known as vasoactive intestinal peptide, is a type of neurotransmitter that exists in the central and enteric nervous systems. VIP consists of 28 amino acids and is mainly released by intestinal neurons. VIP has a dual role in the body, both a gastrointestinal hormone and a neuropeptide. VIP has various functions, such as expanding the heart, brain, and liver blood vessels, regulating cerebral blood flow, reducing pulmonary arterial pressure, lowering blood pressure, relaxing bronchial smooth muscle, regulating central body temperature, sleep, and stimulating prolactin release. The main role in the digestive system is to relax the intestinal smooth muscle and relax the lower esophageal sphincter, Oddi sphincter, intestinal smooth muscle, and internal anal sphincter. Therefore, the change of VIP level is related to a variety of clinical diseases, especially closely related to gastrointestinal diseases, and is an important indicator of gastrointestinal diseases research.

Basic Information

Chinese name

Vasoactive intestinal peptide

Foreign name

vasoactive intestinal peptide

Abbreviation

VIP

Category

Neurotransmitter

Clinical significance of vasoactive intestinal peptide

The VIP test is often used to diagnose VIP tumors. VIP tumor is a benign or malignant tumor of D ₁ cells of the islet. Due to the large amount of VIP secreted by D ₁ cells, VIP tumors cause severe watery diarrhea, hypokalemia, gastric acid deficiency, or hypoacidity, so it is also called WDHA syndrome.

Elevation: seen in WDHA syndrome (watery diarrhea, hypokalemia with islet cell adenoma syndrome), short bowel syndrome, uremia, insulinoma, etc. WDHA syndrome is mainly caused by the secretion of a large number of vasoactive intestinal peptides by islet non-cells. Although APUD cells in the pancreas have no nerve endings, they have micro-hair antennae-like structures. They can be stimulated by glucose and other peptide hormones in the blood, and they can also be stimulated by signals from vagus nerve fibers adjacent to them. These cells maintain a trend of totipotence and, under certain conditions, produce a variety of active peptides, including VIP.

VIP can stimulate the peristalsis of the intestine and promote the loss of intestinal water and salt. So too little secretion of VIP will also cause constipation.

Reference range of vasoactive intestinal peptide normal value

60pg / ml.