Biomedical subjects

Tianyu Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Tianyu Wang.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Acupuncture improves depressive symptoms and prefrontal cortical function in mild to moderate depressive disorder: A randomized sham-controlled trial and fNIRS study.

BACKGROUND: Depressive disorder is a common mental illness associated with substantial functional impairment. Although pharmacotherapy is widely used, its effectiveness is often limited by adverse effects and poor adherence. Acupuncture has been increasingly applied as a complementary treatment for depression, and its neurobiological characteristics remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: This randomized, sham-controlled trial aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for mild to moderate depressive disorder and to investigate its effects on prefrontal cortical function using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). METHODS: Patients with mild to moderate depressive disorder were randomly assigned to a real acupuncture (RA) group or a sham acupuncture (SA) group and received standardized treatment for 8 weeks. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), and a traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score. A subset of participants underwent fNIRS assessment during resting-state and task-based conditions to evaluate prefrontal cortical activation and functional connectivity. RESULTS: Compared with baseline, the RA group showed significant reductions in SDS and SAS scores and significant improvements in SF-36 emotional domains, with effects emerging at Week 4 and persisting up to 12 weeks after treatment. Improvements were greater and more stable in the RA group than in the SA group. fNIRS analyses revealed enhanced activation in dorsolateral and medial prefrontal regions and strengthened prefrontal functional connectivity following acupuncture, whereas neural changes in the SA group were limited. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture is effective for improving depressive and anxiety symptoms and quality of life in patients with mild to moderate depressive disorder. Modulation of prefrontal cortical activation and connectivity may underlie its antidepressant effects.

Humans↗

PubMed2025

Causal association between different types of ametropia and risk of diabetic retinopathy: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the causal link between ametropia and diabetic retinopathy, as well as to offer genetic support for the association between these two conditions. METHODS: This study employed a methodology involving the utilisation of genome-wide association studies data that are publicly accessible. Specifically, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that exhibit a strong association with ametropia were employed as instrumental variables, and a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach was employed to examine the causal relationship between different types of ametropia and diabetic retinopathy. The main findings were derived from the utilisation of inverse variance weighted (IVW), while supplementary results were obtained through the utilisation of MR Egger, weighted median, simple mode and weighted mode. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted using the 'leave-one-out' method. Cochran's Q statistics were also used to quantify the heterogeneity of SNPs. RESULTS: 38 SNPs were finally included. The results of the IVW analysis indicate that myopia may exert an inhibitory effect on the development of diabetic retinopathy (OR=0.596, 95% CI (0.371, 0.957), p<0.05). Conversely, hypermetropia (OR=8.882, 95% CI (0.389×10-3, 2.06×105), p>0.05) and astigmatism (OR=1.004, 95% CI (0.888, 1.135), p>0.05) do not exhibit a causal relationship with the risk of diabetic retinopathy. CONCLUSION: This two-sample Mendelian randomization study provides evidence that myopia may impede diabetic retinopathy occurrence, while hypermetropia and astigmatism show no significant causal effects. However, our analysis treats refractive errors as independent entities, which may not reflect their clinical interdependence. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate myopia's protective mechanisms.

Humans↗

PubMed2025

The locus coeruleus influences behavior by coordinating effective integration of fear memories and sensory input.

An essential function of memory is to guide behavior for better survival and adaptation. While memory formation has been extensively studied, far less is understood about how memory retrieval influences behaviors. In the auditory Pavlovian threat conditioning paradigm using C57BL/6J mice, retrieving a conditioned threat memory is associated with spiking in two dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) neurons with transient (T-neurons) and sustained (S-neurons) patterns. We show here that T-neurons and S-neurons are two distinct neuronal populations with different neuronal and synaptic properties and mRNA profiles. S-neuron spiking matches freezing behavior and is required for freezing. This sustained activity in S-neurons requires auditory inputs and the release of norepinephrine (NE) in the dmPFC. The activation of the locus coeruleus (LC) is initiated by dmPFC T-neuron inputs, sustained by auditory inputs, and is required for the transition to freezing by enhancing S-neuron activity. Interestingly, LC activation precipitates a brief period during which nonconditioned cues also induce freezing. Our findings highlight the critical contribution of the LC/NE system in the transition from memory to behavior, which coordinates the effective integration of memory, sensory inputs and emotional state for optimal adaptation.

Animals↗