Brain vasoactive intestinal peptide: a potent stimulant of gastric acid secretion.

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) belongs to a rapidly expanding family of cerebrogastrointestinal oligopeptides. This report describes a potent dose-, time- and vagus-dependent stimulation of gastric acid secretion by brain VIP. Physiologic evidence favoring a role of VIP on acid secretion was provided by the finding that immunoneutralization of endogenous brain VIP produced a significant decrease of acid secretion. These and other data contained herein suggest that the mechanism by which central VIP stimulates acid secretion appears to involve peripheral cholinergic pathways.