Scientometrics
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2023; 29(24): 3899-3921
Published online Jun 28, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i24.3899
Immunological factors in cirrhosis diseases from a bibliometric point of view
Dan Zhang, Bo-Wen Liu, Xiao-Qing Liang, Fu-Quan Liu
Dan Zhang, Bo-Wen Liu, Fu-Quan Liu, Department of Interventional Therapy, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China
Xiao-Qing Liang, Department of Oncology, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100038, China
Author contributions: Zhang D designed and performed the research; Zhang D, Liu BW, and Liang XQ did statistical analysis; Liu FQ reviewed and revised the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the National Multi-Center Clinical Research Project of Peking University First Hospital, No. 2022CR57.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fu-Quan Liu, MM, Chief Doctor, Doctor, Professor, Department of Interventional Therapy, Beijing Shijitan Hospital, Capital Medical University, No. 10 Tieyi Road, Yangfangdian Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100038, China. liufuquan@ccmu.edu.cn
Received: April 9, 2023
Peer-review started: April 9, 2023
First decision: May 12, 2023
Revised: May 20, 2023
Accepted: May 24, 2023
Article in press: May 24, 2023
Published online: June 28, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Cirrhosis results from persistent liver injury that leads to liver fibrosis. Immunological factors play important regulatory roles in the development and progression of cirrhosis. Bibliometrics is one of the most commonly used methods for systematic evaluation of a field of study. To date, there are no bibliometric studies on the role of immunological factors in cirrhosis.

AIM

To provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge structure and research hotspots of immunological factors in cirrhosis.

METHODS

We retrieved publications related to immunological factors in cirrhosis between 2003 to 2022 from the Web of Science Core Collection database on December 7, 2022. The search strategy was TS = ((Liver Cirrhosis OR hepatic cirrhosis OR liver fibrosis) AND (Immunologic* Factor* OR Immune Factor* OR Immunomodulator* OR Biological Response Modifier* OR Biomodulator*)). Only original articles and reviews were included. A total of 2873 publications were analyzed using indicators of publication and citation metrics, countries, institutes, authors, journals, references, and keywords by CiteSpace and VOSviewer.

RESULTS

A total of 5104 authors from 1173 institutions across 51 countries published 2873 papers on cirrhosis and immunological factors in 281 journals. In the past 20 years, the increasing number of related annual publications and citations indicates that research on immunological factors in cirrhosis has become the focus of attention and has entered a period of accelerated development. The United States (781/27.18%), China (538/18.73%), and Germany (300/10.44%) were the leading countries in this field. Most of the top 10 authors were from the United States (4) and Germany (3), with Gershwin ME contributing the most related articles (42). World Journal of Gastroenterology was the most productive journal, whereas Hepatology was the most co-cited journal. Current research hotspots regarding immunological factors in cirrhosis include fibrosis, cirrhosis, inflammation, liver fibrosis, expression, hepatocellular carcinoma, activation, primary biliary cirrhosis, disease, and hepatic stellate cells. Burst keywords (e.g., epidemiology, gut microbiota, and pathways) represent research frontiers that have attracted the interest of researchers in recent years.

CONCLUSION

This bibliometric study comprehensively summarizes the research developments and directions of immunological factors in cirrhosis, providing new ideas for promoting scientific research and clinical applications.

Keywords: Immunological factors, Cirrhosis, CiteSpace, VOSviewer, Bibliometrics, Visualization

Core Tip: Over the last 20 years, 5104 authors from 1173 institutions in 51 countries have published 2873 papers on cirrhosis and immunological factors in 281 journals. Immune dysfunction, gut microbiota, epidemiology, mouse model, pathway, obesity, extracellular vesicles, bile acids, and the extracellular matrix are currently at the frontiers of research on immunological factors in cirrhosis. It is notable that in addition to focusing on basic research, we should also pay attention to the translation and application of the research results.