The Distribution and Density of Airway Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP) Binding Sites in Cystic Fibrosis and Asthma

Abstract Summary: The densities of airway binding sites for Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) were determined using 125 I-labelled VIP (IVIP) and the technique of autoradiography applied to cryostat sections. Tissue studied included: grossly normal airway tissue taken from lungs resected for bronchial carcinoma (Ca; n=11) and lungs removed at transplant from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF; n=7). Lung tissue obtained at post-mortem in cases of fatal asthma (n=3) or lobes resected for bronchiectasis (n=3) were taken as further disease controls. In the Ca controls there was dense IVIP labelling, of alveolar wall, blood vessels, airway epithelium, submucosal glands, and bronchial smooth muscle: labelling of bronchiolar smooth muscle was sparse. In comparison with the Ca controls, IVIP labelling of all tissue structures in CF, with the exception of bronchial smooth muscle, was reduced ( P