Bibliometric analysis of subject trends and knowledge structures of gut microbiota

Gut microbiota and autism spectrum disorders: where do we stand?

BACKGROUND

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have digestive problems and microbial imbalances in their guts, suggesting that these conditions may play a role in the development of the disorder. Scopus-based research on the gut microbiota and ASD was examined in this bibliometric analysis to shed light on the current state of research and identify potential hotspots for future work in this area.

METHODS

We searched documents from the Scopus database and reference citation analysis to collect published data on the gut microbiota and ASD from 2003 to 2022. The downloaded document records were exported to VOSviewer v.1.6.19 to examine and visualize the collaboration between countries and determine the research hotspots.

RESULTS

The search yielded 958 articles specifically dedicated to gut microbiota and ASD. The number of publications in this field increased rapidly after 2013, with a peak in 2022. The United States (n = 267; 27.87%) was the most active country, followed by China (n = 171; 17.85%) and Italy (n = 96; 10.02). International collaboration was observed, with the USA playing a central role. University College Cork, Ireland, was the most productive institution (n = 24; 2.51%). The National Natural Science Foundation of China was the most active funding agency (n = 76; 7.93%). Nutrients journal had the highest number of publications (n = 28; 2.92%). The articles related to gut microbiota and ASD were highly cited, with an h-index of 108. The research themes identified focused on the modulation of gut microbiota as a potential therapy for children with ASD and gut-brain axis dysfunction in ASD.

CONCLUSIONS

In recent years, the study of gut microbiota and its association with ASD has garnered considerable interest as an emergent field of study. The results of this study substantially enhance our current understanding of the knowledge landscape in this field and illuminate potential avenues for future research. It is essential to emphasize the significance of devoting more resources to the newest and most promising research areas, such as investigating the potential therapeutic benefits of modulating the intestinal microbiota in children with ASD. This research has enormous potential and merits intensified focus and investigation.

Unveiling the hidden world of gut health: Exploring cutting-edge research through visualizing randomized controlled trials on the gut microbiota

BACKGROUND

The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in gastrointestinal and overall health. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) play a crucial role in advancing our knowledge and evaluating the efficacy of therapeutic interventions targeting the gut microbiota.

AIM

To conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the literature on RCTs involving the gut microbiota.

METHODS

Using bibliometric tools, a descriptive cross-sectional investigation was conducted on scholarly publications concentrated on RCTs related to gut microbiota, spanning the years 2003 to 2022. The study used VOSviewer version 1.6.9 to examine collaboration networks between different countries and evaluate the frequently employed terms in the titles and abstracts of the retrieved publications. The primary objective of this analysis was to identify key research areas and focal points associated with RCTs involving the gut microbiota.

RESULTS

A total of 1061 relevant articles were identified from the 24758 research articles published between 2003 and 2022. The number of publications showed a notable increase over time, with a positive correlation (R2 = 0.978, P < 0.001). China (n = 276, 26.01%), the United States (n = 254, 23.94%), and the United Kingdom (n = 97, 9.14%) were the leading contributing countries. Københavns Universitet (n = 38, 3.58%) and Dankook University (n = 35, 3.30%) were the top active institutions. The co-occurrence analysis shows current gut microbiota research trends and important topics, such as obesity interventions targeting the gut microbiota, the efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation, and the effects of dietary interventions on humans.

CONCLUSION

The study highlights the rapid growth and importance of research on RCTs that involve the gut microbiota. This study provides valuable insight into research trends, identifies key players, and outlines potential future directions in this field. Additionally, the co-occurrence analysis identified important topics that play a critical role in the advancement of science and provided insights into future research directions in this field.

Global trends in research related to the links between microbiota and antibiotics: a visualization study

The scientific community widely acknowledges that the gut microbiota plays a critical role in maintaining host health and can be altered by a range of factors, such as antibiotic use, diet, stress, and infections. Therefore, this study utilized bibliometric analysis to thoroughly investigate research trends in the microbiota and antibiotics. Scopus was used to extract papers linked to microbiota and antibiotics published between 2002 and 2021, and both Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer were used to conduct the analysis of the data. A total of 2,816 publications discussed the connection between the microbiota and antibiotics. Growth occurred in two stages: the first (2002-2015) was characterized by fairly slow publication production, while the second (2016-2021) saw a rapid increase in publishing progress. The United States has the most publications, 654, representing 23.22% of the total. China came second with 372 publications (13.21%), followed by the United Kingdom with 161 publications (5.72%) and India with 157 publications (5.58%). In addition, publications on 'altered intestinal microbiota composition with antibiotic treatment' were introduced after 2017, while 'gut microbiota and antimicrobial resistance' and 'probiotics as an alternative antimicrobial therapy' were introduced before 2017. Based on these results, this study provides an in-depth look at key moments in the history of microbiota and antibiotic research, as well as possible directions for future research in different areas of microbiota and antibiotic research. Therefore, it is suggested that more attention should be given to the latest promising hotspots, such as how antibiotic treatment changes the composition of the gut microbiota.

Large scale text mining for deriving useful insights: A case study focused on microbiome

Text mining has been shown to be an auxiliary but key driver for modeling, data harmonization, and interpretation in bio-medicine. Scientific literature holds a wealth of information and embodies cumulative knowledge and remains the core basis on which mechanistic pathways, molecular databases, and models are built and refined. Text mining provides the necessary tools to automatically harness the potential of text. In this study, we show the potential of large-scale text mining for deriving novel insights, with a focus on the growing field of microbiome. We first collected the complete set of abstracts relevant to the microbiome from PubMed and used our text mining and intelligence platform Taxila for analysis. We drive the usefulness of text mining using two case studies. First, we analyze the geographical distribution of research and study locations for the field of microbiome by extracting geo mentions from text. Using this analysis, we were able to draw useful insights on the state of research in microbiome w. r.t geographical distributions and economic drivers. Next, to understand the relationships between diseases, microbiome, and food which are central to the field, we construct semantic relationship networks between these different concepts central to the field of microbiome. We show how such networks can be useful to derive useful insight with no prior knowledge encoded.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Research on the Links Between Gut Microbiota and Atherosclerosis

Background

Emerging evidence has linked gut microbiota (GM) and its related metabolites to atherosclerosis (AS). This study aimed to analyze the evolution of GM in AS in the past decades, and provide valuable insights in this field.

Methods

Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) was applied to retrieve the publications related to GM in AS from their inception until 2 December 2021, and the data was analyzed in Microsoft Excel, Scimago Graphica, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer.

Results

In total, 560 documents were extracted from the WoSCC databases. The publications have shown rapid growth since 2008. China and Cleveland Clin were the most prolific country and institution, respectively. The journal with the most publications is Nutrients, and Nature was the most co-cited journal. Among 3556 related authors, Hazen, Stanley L., Tang, W. H. Wilson, and Wang, Zeneng were the top 3 contributing authors in this field. Aside from “gut microbiota,” “atherosclerosis,” the terms “TMAO,” “metabolite,” “obesity,” and “phosphatidylcholine” were frequently occurred in the abstract and title of articles. Burst detection of keywords indicated that “metabolic syndrome,” “acid,” and “bile acid” were hot topics in recent years. According to the co-citation analysis of references, the research focus in this area has changed over time, and recent researches focus on choline, hypertension, butyrate, and berberine.

Conclusion

Our study showed that the researches of GM in AS have been flourishing, and the content themes were constantly deepened. Human GM is critical to atherosclerotic diseases, and this hot topic is still worthy of more focus in the future.

Mapping the global research landscape on nutrition and the gut microbiota: Visualization and bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Nutrition is a significant modifiable element that influences the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota, implying the possibility of therapeutic diet methods that manipulate the composition and diversity of the microbial.

AIM

To overview research papers on nutrition and gut microbiota and determines the hotspots in this field at the global level.

METHODS

Scopus and Reference Citation Analysis were used to construct a bibliometric technique. It was decided to create bibliometric indicators and mapping as in most previous studies. 2012 through 2021 served as the study's timeframe.

RESULTS

A total of 5378 documents from the Scopus database were selected for analysis. Of all retrieved studies, 78.52% were research papers (n = 4223), followed by reviews (n = 820; 15.25%). China ranked first with a total number of articles of 1634 (30.38%), followed by the United States in second place with a total number of articles of 1307 (24.3%). In the last decade, emerging hotspots for gut microbiota and nutrition research included "gut microbiota metabolism and interaction with dietary components", "connection between the gut microbiota and weight gain", and "the influence of high-fat diet and gut microbiota on metabolic disorders".

CONCLUSION

This is the first thorough bibliometric analysis of nutrition and gut microbiota publications conducted on a global level. Investigation of the association between nutrition/diet and the gut microbiota is still in its infancy and will be expanded in the future. However, according to recent trends, the “effect of gut microbiota and high-fat diet on metabolic disorders" will be an increasing concern in the future.

Global research production in neonatal abstinence syndrome: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Recently, neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) emerged as a significant global concern with a dramatic increase in healthcare expenditures. The incidence of the NAS has increased notably in the past decade and emergence as a global public health problem.

AIM

To evaluate the development and trend of global NAS research from 1958 to 2019 by bibliometric analysis.

METHODS

Analyzed aspects included publication output per year, language, document types, journals, countries/territories, h-index, authors, and top research priorities. The VOSviewer was used to determine the top research priorities, and trends, and to present bibliometric networks concerning various dimensions, such as co-authorship, authors, and countries.

RESULTS

A total of 1738 articles were retrieved in the Scopus database from 1958 to 2019. It was found that the great majority of the total NAS documents (n = 1295) were original articles followed by reviews (n = 268) and letters (n = 48). The most productive countries in the NAS field were the United States (n = 833), Canada (n = 112), the United Kingdom (n = 111), and Germany (n = 77). Treatment and hospital outcomes in NAS, evidence-based nurse-driven interventions for the care of newborns with NAS, and a systematic reviews and network meta-analysis for therapeutic approaches of NAS were found in recent years (after 2010), compared with terms such as pathophysiology, mechanisms of NAS, and signs and symptoms in the early years.

CONCLUSION

Treatment and pediatric outcomes and the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment may be frontiers in the NAS field, and continued efforts from researchers are needed in those topics.

Global research production in neonatal abstinence syndrome: A bibliometric analysis

BACKGROUND

Recently, neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) emerged as a significant global concern with a dramatic increase in healthcare expenditures. The incidence of the NAS has increased notably in the past decade and emergence as a global public health problem.

AIM

To evaluate the development and trend of global NAS research from 1958 to 2019 by bibliometric analysis.

METHODS

Analyzed aspects included publication output per year, language, document types, journals, countries/territories, h-index, authors, and top research priorities. The VOSviewer was used to determine the top research priorities, and trends, and to present bibliometric networks concerning various dimensions, such as co-authorship, authors, and countries.

RESULTS

A total of 1738 articles were retrieved in the Scopus database from 1958 to 2019. It was found that the great majority of the total NAS documents (n = 1295) were original articles followed by reviews (n = 268) and letters (n = 48). The most productive countries in the NAS field were the United States (n = 833), Canada (n = 112), the United Kingdom (n = 111), and Germany (n = 77). Treatment and hospital outcomes in NAS, evidence-based nurse-driven interventions for the care of newborns with NAS, and a systematic reviews and network meta-analysis for therapeutic approaches of NAS were found in recent years (after 2010), compared with terms such as pathophysiology, mechanisms of NAS, and signs and symptoms in the early years.

CONCLUSION

Treatment and pediatric outcomes and the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment may be frontiers in the NAS field, and continued efforts from researchers are needed in those topics.

Global research trends on the links between the gut microbiome and cancer: a visualization analysis

BACKGROUND

Significant links between the microbiota and human health have emerged in the last 20 years. A correlation has recently been demonstrated between changes in the gut microbiota and the development of cancer. This study aimed to use bibliometric analysis of the published gut microbiome and cancer literature to present the research status and summarize the hotspots for frontier studies.

METHODS

A literature search for research on the gut microbiome and cancer research from 2001 to 2020 was conducted using the Scopus database on 20 March 2021. VOSviewer software (version 1.6.16) was used to perform the visualization analysis.

RESULTS

From 2001 to 2020, a total of 2061 publications were retrieved. Annual publication output grew from 10 in 2001 to 486 in 2020. The USA had the largest number of publications, making the largest contribution to the field (n  = 566, 27.46%). Before 2016, most studies focused on the 'effect of probiotics on cancer'. The latest trends showed that 'microbiota composition and gene expression' and 'host-microbiome interaction in cancer immunotherapy' would be more concerned more widely in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

Research on 'microbiota composition and gene expression' and 'host-microbiome interaction in cancer immunotherapy' will continue to be the hotspot. Therefore, this study provides the trend and characteristics of the literature on the gut microbiota and cancer literature, which provided a useful bibliometric analysis for researchers to conduct further research.

CX3CR1 Acts as a Protective Biomarker in the Tumor Microenvironment of Colorectal Cancer

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of many cancers. We aimed to screen the TME-related hub genes of colorectal adenoma (CRAD) and identify possible prognostic biomarkers. The gene expression profiles and clinical data of 464 CRAD patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database were downloaded. The Estimation of STromal and Immune cells in MAlignant Tumours using Expression data (ESTIMATE) algorithm was performed to calculate the ImmuneScore, StromalScore, and EstimateScore. Thereafter, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, and protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis were performed to explore the roles of DEGs. Furthermore, univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were accomplished to identify independent prognostic factors of CRAD. CX3CR1 was selected as a hub gene, and the expression was confirmed in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and cell lines. The correlations between CX3CR1 and tumor-infiltrating immune cells were estimated by Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource database (TIMER) and CIBERSORT analysis. Besides, we investigated the effects of coculture with THP-1-derived macrophages with HCT8 cells with low CX3CR1 expression on immune marker expression, cell viability, and migration. There were significant differences in the ImmuneScore and EstimateScore among different stages. Patients with low scores presented significantly lower lifetimes than those in the high-score group. Moreover, we recognized 1,578 intersection genes in ImmuneScore and StromalScore, and these genes were mainly enriched in numerous immune-related biological processes. CX3CR1 was found to be associated with immune cell infiltration levels, immune marker expression, and macrophage polarization. Simultaneous silencing of CX3CR1 and coculture with THP-1 cells further regulated macrophage polarization and promoted the cell proliferation and migration of CRC cells. CX3CR1 was decreased in CRAD tissues and cell lines and was related to T and N stages, tumor differentiation, and prognosis. Our results suggest that CX3CR1 contributes to the recruitment and regulation of immune-infiltrating cells and macrophage polarization in CRC and TAM-induced CRC progression. CX3CR1 may act as a prognostic biomarker in CRC.

Emerging trends and focus of human gastrointestinal microbiome research from 2010-2021: a visualized study

BACKGROUND

The gastrointestinal microbiome is an important component of the human body and is closely related to human health and disease. This study describes the hotspots of the human gastrointestinal microbiome research and its evolution in the past decade, evaluates the scientific cooperation network, and finally predicts the field's future development trend using bibliometric analysis and a visualized study.

METHODS

We searched the original articles from January 2010 to February 2021 in the Scopus database using the term "gastrointestinal microbiome" and its synonyms. CiteSpace was used to construct country and author co-occurrence map; conduct journal, citation cocitation analysis, and reference co-citation knowledge map; and form a keywords co-occurrence map, a clustering knowledge map, timeline view of keywords, and burst term map.

RESULT

A total of 4444 documents published from January 2010 to February 2021 were analysed. In approximately the past decade, the number of articles on the human gastrointestinal microbiome has increased rapidly, and the research topics focus on different populations, research methods, and detection methods. All countries and regions in the world, led by the US, are studying the human gastrointestinal microbiome, and many research teams with close cooperation have been formed. The research has been published extensively in microbiology journals and clinical medicine journals, and the highly cited articles mainly describe the relationship between gastrointestinal microorganisms and human health and disease. Regarding the research emphasis, researchers' exploration of the human gastrointestinal microbiome (2011-2013) was at a relatively macro and superficial stage and sought to determine how the gastrointestinal microbiome relates to humans. From 2014 to 2017, increasingly more studies were conducted to determine the interaction between human gastrointestinal flora and various organs and systems. In addition, researchers (2018-2021) focused on the gastrointestinal microbial community and the diversity of certain types of microbes.

CONCLUSION

Over time, the scope of the research on the clinical uses of the gastrointestinal microbiome gradually increased, and the contents were gradually deepened and developed towards a more precise level. The study of the human gastrointestinal microbiome is an ongoing research hotspot and contributes to human health.

Current global research landscape on COVID-19 and depressive disorders: Bibliometric and visualization analysis

BACKGROUND

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected daily life globally dramatically over the last year. The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on mental health is expected to be immense and likely to be long-lasting, raising a range of global problems that need to be addressed accordingly.

AIM

To analyze the Scopus-based depression research and COVID-19, explain the advancement of research nowadays, and comment on the possible hotspots of depression research and COVID-19 to obtain a more global perspective.

METHODS

In this report, bibliometric analysis and visualization are used to explain COVID-19's global research status on depression and provide researchers with a guide to identify future research directions. Relevant studies on depression and COVID-19 were retrieved from the Scopus database. Visualization maps were produced using the VOSviewer software, including research collaboration.

RESULTS

At the time of data collection (November 18, 2020), 77217 documents were released by Scopus to COVID-19 in all areas of research. By limiting the search to depression and COVID-19 (January 2020 up until November 18, 2020), there are 1274 published articles on depression and COVID-19 in the Scopus. The great majority of which are original articles (n = 1049, 82.34%), followed by 118 review articles (9.26%), 66 letters (5.18%). The United States had the highest number of publications at 282 (22.14%), followed by China (19.07%) at 243 and Italy at 121 (9.5%). The major two clusters are signified by mental health outcomes among the general population and mental health outcomes among health care workers.

CONCLUSION

The evidence from this study found that many articles focused on mental health outcomes among the general population and health care workers. With adequate psychological support offered by the government or community agencies, mental health in various communities should be put within the local and global public health agenda. This changing situation involves the scientific community's collaborative efforts to contribute to population monitoring during quarantine and COVID-19 outbreaks and to examine the short- and long-term adverse effects on psychological well-being.

Research Trends of Biodegradation of Cooking Oil in Antarctica from 2001 to 2021: A Bibliometric Analysis Based on the Scopus Database

In the present age, environmental pollution is multiplying due to various anthropogenic activities. Pollution from waste cooking oil is one of the main issues facing the current human population. Scientists and researchers are seriously concerned about the oils released from various activities, including the blockage of the urban drainage system and odor issues. In addition, cooking oil is known to be harmful and may have a carcinogenic effect. It was found that current research studies and publications are growing on these topics due to environmental problems. A bibliometric analysis of studies published from 2001 to 2021 on cooking oil degradation was carried out using the Scopus database. Primarily, this analysis identified the reliability of the topic for the present-day and explored the past and present progresses of publications on various aspects, including the contributing countries, journals and keywords co-occurrence. The links and interactions between the selected subjects (journals and keywords) were further visualised using the VOSviewer software. The analysis showed that the productivity of the publications is still developing, with the most contributing country being the United States, followed by China and India with 635, 359 and 320 publications, respectively. From a total of 1915 publications, 85 publications were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Meanwhile, the second and third of the most influential journals were Bioresource Technology and Industrial Crops and Products with 76 and 70 total publications, respectively. Most importantly, the co-occurrence of the author’s keywords revealed “biodegradation”, “bioremediation”, “vegetable oil” and “Antarctic” as the popular topics in this study area, especially from 2011 to 2015. In conclusion, this bibliometric analysis on the degradation of cooking oil may serve as guide for future avenues of research in this area of research.