VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide)
Vasoactive intestinal peptide — a natural signaling molecule used via compounded nasal sprays in some practitioner protocols; evidence for those uses is limited.
What it is
Vasoactive intestinal peptide is a naturally occurring 28-amino-acid signaling molecule with roles across the gut, lungs, immune system and circadian clock. As a therapeutic it has a long, mostly frustrating research history — and a active second life in compounded nasal sprays used by mold-illness (CIRS) protocols.
Synthetic VIP (aviptadil) has been studied for pulmonary hypertension, ARDS and COVID-19 — the last in sizable trials that did not win approval. The nasal-spray practitioner use rests on protocol literature well short of controlled-trial standards.
What researchers have actually studied it for
Pulmonary hypertension, ARDS and COVID-19 (as aviptadil, without approval), plus practitioner mold-illness protocols resting on case-series evidence.
How it works
VIP binds receptors (VPAC1/2) across many tissues: relaxing airway and vascular smooth muscle, damping inflammatory signaling, supporting surfactant-producing lung cells, and modulating immune tone. Its breadth is exactly why bottling it into one marketed use has proven hard.
Where it came from
Discovered in 1970 by Sami Said and Viktor Mutt in gut extracts, VIP spent decades as a physiology celebrity and therapeutic disappointment — fragile in the body, broad in action. Aviptadil's COVID-era trials briefly made it famous; the CIRS protocol community had already adopted compounded nasal VIP years earlier.
What the research record actually contains
- Deep physiology literature across lung, gut and immune systems.
- Aviptadil trials in critical COVID-19: no convincing overall benefit; no approval.
- CIRS/mold-protocol nasal use: practitioner case series, not controlled trials.
What's known about risks
Trial-studied intravenous aviptadil showed manageable, blood-pressure-related effects under monitoring. Compounded nasal-spray use has practitioner-reported tolerability and little controlled characterization; quality rests on the compounding pharmacy.
Where it stands legally
Not an FDA-approved drug; available in practice via compounding channels for practitioner protocols, where eligibility and quality are pharmacy questions.
Worth asking a licensed provider
- 1.For suspected mold-related illness, what does a rigorous work-up look like before protocol medicine?
- 2.What evidence supports nasal VIP for my specific picture — and what would we measure?
- 3.Which pharmacy compounds it, and how is quality verified?