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©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Unveiling the hidden world of gut health: Exploring cutting-edge research through visualizing randomized controlled trials on the gut microbiota
Sa’ed H Zyoud, Muna Shakhshir, Amani S Abushanab, Amer Koni, Moyad Shahwan, Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Adham Abu Taha, Samah W Al-Jabi
Sa’ed H Zyoud, Amani S Abushanab, Amer Koni, Samah W Al-Jabi, Department of Clinical and Community Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus 44839, Palestine
Sa’ed H Zyoud, Clinical Research Centre, An-Najah National University Hospital, Nablus 44839, Palestine
Muna Shakhshir, Department of Nutrition, An-Najah National University Hospital, Nablus 44839, Palestine
Amer Koni, Division of Clinical Pharmacy, Hematology and Oncology Pharmacy Department, An-Najah National University Hospital, Nablus 44839, Palestine
Moyad Shahwan, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman 346, United Arab Emirates
Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Department of Health and Safety, Dubai Municipality, Dubai 67, United Arab Emirates
Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Pulau Pinang 11500, Malaysia
Adham Abu Taha, Department of Pathology, An-Najah National University Hospital, Nablus 44839, Palestine
Adham Abu Taha, Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus 44839, Palestine
Author contributions: Zyoud SH developed the concept for the manuscript, reviewed the literature, designed the study, collected the data, analyzed the data, made significant contributions to the existing literature search and interpretation of the manuscript, and wrote the manuscript; Shakhshir M contributed to the conceptualization and methodology of the study, involved in the interpretation of the data, contributed to the manuscript writing, and made revisions to the initial draft; Koni A, Abushanab AS, Jairoun AA, Shahwan WM, Abu Taha A, and Al-Jabi SW participated in the interpretation of the data, and made revisions to the initial draft; all authors provided a critical review and approved the final manuscript before submission.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no financial disclosures or conflicts of interest to declare.
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: Sa’ed H Zyoud, PhD, Director, Full Professor, Department of Clinical and Community Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Academic Street, Nablus 44839, Palestine. saedzyoud@yahoo.com
Received: June 3, 2023
Peer-review started: June 3, 2023
First decision: August 5, 2023
Revised: August 12, 2023
Accepted: August 18, 2023
Article in press: August 18, 2023
Published online: September 16, 2023
Processing time: 96 Days and 21.7 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
The gut microbiome contains bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Recent research reveals that the gut microbiota, the microbial community in the gastrointestinal tract, affects immune system function and host inflammation.
Research motivation
Clinical investigations have provided evidence of connections between the human microbiome and various diseases. However, fundamental inquiries still need to be addressed regarding the generalizability of this knowledge.
Research objectives
To identify and assess the current state and trends in global research output on randomized clinical trials (RCTs) centered on gut microbiota. Additionally, this study aimed to analyze the key areas of research visually focused within this particular sector.
Research methods
The body of literature on RCTs centered on the gut microbiota was compiled using the Scopus database and Reference Citation Analysis (RCA). In addition, VOSviewer software was utilized to assess the collected data from relevant scholarly articles visually.
Research results
This study is the first bibliometric analysis of worldwide research patterns on RCTs centered on gut microbiota. There has been a notable increase in scholarly works focusing on RCTs and gut microbiota in recent years. The results of our study indicate that future research will focus on interventions targeting obesity by manipulating the gut microbiota, evaluating the efficacy and safety of fecal microbiota transplantation, and exploring the impact of dietary interventions on the human gut microbiota.
Research conclusions
The report shows the tremendous expansion and importance of gut microbiota RCTs. Identifies major actors, research trends, and future prospects in this subject. The co-occurrence analysis also revealed key themes that promote science and suggested future study options.
Research perspectives
Over the past decades, a series of investigations have yielded compelling findings regarding the considerable significance of the gut microbiota in human health and its correlation with various diseases. The intricate and interconnected dynamics of gut fungi, bacteria, and the host’s immune system play a crucial role in preserving the equilibrium of the host’s physiological processes while also exerting an impact on the progression, advancement, and potential therapeutic outcomes of diseases.
