Therapeutic Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide

**Semantic type:** Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** A recombinant 28-amino-acid neuropeptide that is chemically identical or similar to the endogenous vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), with anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activities. This agent exerts a wide spectrum of anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting macrophage functions, including phagocytosis, respiratory burst, and chemotaxis, and also by inhibiting T cell proliferation and decreasing lymphocyte migration. VIP has also been reported to inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF alpha, interferon-gamma, IL-6, IL-12, to reduce the activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase and to enhance the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-1Ra. This agent exerts its anti-arthritic activity by reducing the titers of autoreactive antibodies against type II collagen (CII), a major factor in determining susceptibility to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA).

**Synonyms:** - Therapeutic VIP - Therapeutic Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide - Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide