Scientometrics
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 28, 2023; 29(36): 5254-5267
Published online Sep 28, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i36.5254
Intestinal barrier in inflammatory bowel disease: A bibliometric and knowledge-map analysis
Feng Zhou, Nan-Zhen Wu, Yong Xie, Xiao-Jiang Zhou
Feng Zhou, Yong Xie, Xiao-Jiang Zhou, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330000, Jiangxi Province, China
Nan-Zhen Wu, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Fengcheng People's Hospital, Fengcheng 331100, Jiangxi Province, China
Author contributions: Zhou XJ and Xie Y designed the study; Zhou F and Wu NZ conducted data extraction; Zhou F performed data analysis and drafted the manuscript; Zhou XJ and Xie Y interpreted the data and revised the manuscript; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 8186030315 and No. 81760105; and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province, China, No. 20202ACBL206009.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.
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: Xiao-Jiang Zhou, MD, PhD, Academic Research, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 17 Yongwaizheng Street, Nanchang 330000, Jiangxi Province, China. yfyzxj1970@163.com
Received: July 20, 2023
Peer-review started: July 20, 2023
First decision: August 5, 2023
Revised: August 11, 2023
Accepted: September 8, 2023
Article in press: September 8, 2023
Published online: September 28, 2023
Processing time: 61 Days and 22.2 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Barrier surfaces composed of specialized epithelial cells separate the host body from the external environment, and are essential for maintaining proper intestinal physiologic and immune homeostasis. There is growing evidence that the mucosal healing and reestablishment of barrier integrity are significantly associated with clinical remission and improved patient outcomes.

Research motivation

With the rapid expansion of research topics, it has become challenging for researchers to accumulate knowledge and actively collect evidence in specific field. The bibliographic and visual analysis provides new angles to identify development trends and predict research prospects of this field by mathematics and statistics.

Research objectives

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge structure and research hotspots of intestinal barrier in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Research methods

The publications related to intestinal barrier in IBD were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were conducted using VOSviewer, CiteSpace and R software.

Research results

A comprehensive analysis of 4482 articles published between 2002 and 2022 has revealed significant insights in the realm of intestinal barrier research. Intestinal barrier research mainly focuses on four aspects, including clinical characteristics, barrier function, gut microbiota, and inflammation regulation. The keywords appearing at high frequency related with intestinal barrier in IBD were detected, including nuclear factor kappa B, tumor necrosis factor-α, apoptosis, oxidative stress and probiotics. Among them, antioxidants, Akkermansia muciniphila, nanoparticles, short-chain fatty acids and extracellular vesicles have received extensive interest in current research.

Research conclusions

The intestinal barrier field is developing rapidly with extensive cooperation. Targeting the gut microbiota and dietary metabolism to regulate intestinal barrier shown promising applied prospective and has generated broad interest.

Research perspectives

The importance of the intestinal barrier in IBD is gradually being fully recognized, providing a new therapeutic perspective for improving inflammation.