Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and prolactin cytokines: Role in sleep and some immune aspects

Abstract

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) was originally isolated from the small intestine and the lung as a peptide with potent vasodilator effects (Said and Mutt 1970) and has recently been suggested to play a major regulatory role in a large number of acute and chronic diseases (Delgado, Abad, Martinez, Leceta, and Gomariz 2001; Delgado and Ganea 2001). The name VIP is derived from the profound and long-lasting gastrointestinal smooth muscle relaxation that this peptide produces following systemic administration. The primary structure of VIP is closely related to pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP). VIP contains 28 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 3326 Da. The amino acid sequence of VIP in the rat, human and other mammalians species is identical (Henning and Sawmiller 2001). © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved.