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Vasoactive intestinal peptide causes marked cephalic vasodilation, but does not induce migraine
Plain-language guide to PMID 18254893 (2008): double-blind randomized controlled trial study of VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide), migraine.
Key Facts
- PMID
- 18254893
- Journal
- Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache
- Year
- 2008
- Study type
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Rahmann A et al. (6 authors)
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2007.01497.x
What This Study Did, in Plain Language
What Was Tested
Researchers studied VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide) in the context of migraine in this randomized controlled trial publication.
The researchers hypothesized that intravenous infusion of the parasympathetic transmitter, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), might induce migraine attacks in migraineurs.
None of the subjects reported a migraine attack after VIP infusion.
Who Took Part
PubMed indexes the participants as adults, both men and women.
How the Study Was Run
The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.
Because people in this VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.
Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.
A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide) group a baseline to be compared against.
Each person switched between VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide) and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.
Headache was scored on a verbal rating scale (VRS), mean blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery (V(mean MCA)) was measured by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, and diameter of the superficial temporal artery (STA) by high-frequency ultrasound.
What Was Measured
The researchers hypothesized that intravenous infusion of the parasympathetic transmitter, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), might induce migraine attacks in migraineurs.
PubMed files the paper under topics including Migraine Disorders, Migraine without Aura, Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide, Vasodilation and Vasodilator Agents.
What This Means in Plain Language
The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide) in people with migraine.
The publication is from 2008 (Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache), a journal based in England.
More context: the VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide) compound page, Migraine research.
Our Notes on the Compound
VIP (Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide): A 28-amino-acid neuropeptide that relaxes smooth muscle and calms immune activity; aviptadil is a synthetic form.
Related Pages
Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.