VIP
Purrptide digest
VIP is a naturally occurring peptide with a sprawling job description: gut motility, blood vessel dilation, immune modulation, and circadian rhythm regulation, among others. It's gained particular attention in chronic inflammatory illness and mold-related illness communities, where low VIP levels are theorized to play a role in chronic symptoms. A nasal spray version exists in some treatment protocols, though the broader evidence base for these specific chronic-illness applications remains more theoretical than proven.
What this means for you
If you've encountered this through chronic inflammatory illness protocols, know that the evidence for those specific uses is still largely theoretical.
VIP's role is well-established physiologically, but its use in chronic inflammatory response syndrome protocols is far less rigorously validated.
The sheer breadth of VIP's physiological roles — gut, vasculature, immune, circadian — makes isolating any single therapeutic application methodologically tricky.
A well-characterized natural peptide with niche commercial use in functional medicine circles, but no major approved indication yet.
For the nerds
Polypeptide with broad biological activity: isolation from small intestine
Science · DOI: 10.1126/science.169.3951.1217
Read full paper on PubMed →