VIP exerts a strong vasodilatatory effect on the craniocervical vasculature
(Edvinsson and Uddman, 2005). One clinical study revealed that
a VIP infusion causes strong dilatation of the superficial temporal artery,
but none of the patients reported migraine attacks (Rahmann et al.,
2008). Itwas recently reported that a VIP infusion induced marked dilatation
of the extracranial, but not the intracranial arteries in female
migraineurs without aura, and only 18% of the migraine patients experienced
migraine-like attacks (Amin et al., 2014).
Overall, therefore, VIP is a strong vasodilatorwith a lowcapability to
induce a migraine attack.