Scientometrics
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jan 27, 2025; 17(1): 102034
Published online Jan 27, 2025. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v17.i1.102034
Research hotspots and trends in gut microbiota and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A bibliometric study
Cai-Yun Huang, Zhong-Zhi Luo, Wei-Ping Huang, Li-Ping Lin, You-Ting Yao, Han-Xu Zhuang, Qiu-Yong Xu, Ya-Dong Lai
Cai-Yun Huang, Wei-Ping Huang, Li-Ping Lin, You-Ting Yao, Han-Xu Zhuang, Qiu-Yong Xu, Ya-Dong Lai, Department of Gastroenterology, Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Zhangzhou 363000, Fujian Province, China
Zhong-Zhi Luo, Department of Electrocardiogram, Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Zhangzhou 363000, Fujian Province, China
Co-first authors: Cai-Yun Huang and Zhong-Zhi Luo.
Co-corresponding authors: Qiu-Yong Xu and Ya-Dong Lai.
Author contributions: Huang CY and Huang WP designed the study; Huang CY and Luo ZZ prepared the original manuscript; Luo ZZ conducted the CiteSpace and VOSviewer analysis; Huang CY, Huang WP, Lin LP and Yao YT searched and collected the data and participated in translation of the manuscript; Lai YD, Xu QY and Zhuang HX conducted a thorough review and revision of the manuscript. All authors contributed to this study and granted their final approval for the submitted version. Huang CY and Luo ZZ contributed equally to this work as co-first authors. During the preparation and revision of the manuscript, Lai YD and Xu QY shared the responsibility of comprehensively reviewing and revising the manuscript as well as communicating and coordinating with the reviewers, the editorial team, and other authors. Their close cooperation and efficient communication ensured the smooth progress and high quality of the manuscript. Setting them as co-corresponding authors can more fairly reflect the contribution of each author and help to improve the overall quality of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The research was carried out on the assumption that there were no potential conflicts of interest regarding any business or financial relationships.
PRISMA 2020 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2020 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2020 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: Ya-Dong Lai, MD, Chief Physician, Department of Gastroenterology, Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, No. 59 Shengli West Road, Zhangzhou 363000, Fujian Province, China. lyd0596@hotmail.com
Received: October 6, 2024
Revised: November 9, 2024
Accepted: December 6, 2024
Published online: January 27, 2025
Processing time: 91 Days and 18.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Recent research indicates that the intestinal microbial community, known as the gut microbiota, may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). To understand this relationship, this study used a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to explore and analyze the currently little-known connection between gut microbiota and NAFLD, as well as new findings and possible future pathways in this field.

AIM

To provide an in-depth analysis of the current focus issues and research developments on the interaction between gut microbiota and NAFLD.

METHODS

In this study, all data were collected from the Web of Science Core Collection, and the related searches were completed on one day (February 21, 2024). The data were stored in plain text format to facilitate subsequent analysis. VOSviewer 1.6.20 and CiteSpace 6.1R6 Basic were used for knowledge graph construction and bibliometric analysis.

RESULTS

The study included a total of 1256 articles published from 2013 to 2023, and the number of published papers demonstrated an upward trend, reaching a peak in the last two years. The University of California, San Diego held the highest citation count, while Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China led in the number of published works. The journal "Nutrients" had the highest publication count, while "Hepatology" was the most frequently cited. South Korean author Suk Ki Tae was the most prolific researcher. The co-cited keyword cluster labels revealed ten major clusters, namely cortisol, endothelial dysfunction, carbohydrate metabolism, myocardial infarction, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, lipotoxicity, glucagon-like peptide-1, non-islet dependent, ethnicity, and microRNA. Keyword outbreak analysis highlighted metabolic syndrome, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, hepatocellular carcinoma, cardiovascular disease, intestinal permeability, and intestinal bacterial overgrowth as prominent areas of intense research.

CONCLUSION

Through the quantitative analysis of relevant literature, the current research focus and direction of gut microbiota and NAFLD can be more clearly understood, which helps us better understand the pathogenesis of NAFLD, and also opens up innovative solutions and strategies for the treatment of NAFLD.

Keywords: Gut microbiota; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Bibliometric; Knowledge maps; VOSviewer; Citespace

Core Tip: Gut microbiota and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have been increasingly linked through mounting evidence, prompting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis in this study, which aimed to examine the emerging research trends and focuses in the relationship between the two fields. Over the past ten years, there has been a substantial rise in studies exploring the connection between gut microbiota and NAFLD. These investigations mainly concentrate on the function of gut microbiota in the development and potential therapy of NAFLD. By shedding light on the pathogenesis of NAFLD, these studies not only augment our comprehension of the disease's origin but also furnish novel therapeutic strategies and insights.