[Study on plasma levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in patients with allergic rhinitis]

The plasma levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were measured in 33 allergic rhinitis patients and 21 controls by means of supersensitive and highly specific VIP-radioimmunoassays. At the same time the blood flow was observed by using the laser-Doppler flowmetry. The result showed that the levels of plasma VIP in patients with allergic rhinitis were higher than those in the control group (54.93 +/- 30.58 ng/L, 25.97 +/- 11.83 ng/L, P < 0.01). The levels of plasma VIP related significantly to the volume of blood flow in nasal mucosa (gamma = 0.7678, P < 0.001). It is concluded that VIP could induce vasodilation in nasal mucosa, leading to an increase in nasal mucosa blood flow.