Mapping intellectual structure and research hotspots in the field of fibroblast-associated DFUs: a bibliometric analysis

Yushu Zhu; Jianyu Lu; Siqiao Wang; Dayuan Xu; Minjuan Wu; Shuyuan Xian; Wei Zhang; Xirui Tong; Yifan Liu; Jie Huang; Luofeng Jiang; Xinya Guo; Sujie Xie; Minyi Gu; Shuxin Jin; Yicheng Ma; Runzhi Huang; Shichu Xiao; Shizhao Ji

doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1109456

Mapping intellectual structure and research hotspots in the field of fibroblast-associated DFUs: a bibliometric analysis

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Apr 14:14:1109456. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1109456. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yushu Zhu^{1

2}, Jianyu Lu^{1

2}, Siqiao Wang³, Dayuan Xu^{1

2}, Minjuan Wu^{1

2}, Shuyuan Xian³, Wei Zhang^{1

2}, Xirui Tong^{1

2}, Yifan Liu⁴, Jie Huang^{1

2}, Luofeng Jiang^{1

2}, Xinya Guo^{1

2}, Sujie Xie^{1

2}, Minyi Gu^{1

2}, Shuxin Jin^{1

2}, Yicheng Ma^{1

2}, Runzhi Huang^{1

2}, Shichu Xiao^{1

2}, Shizhao Ji^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Burn Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.
² Research Unit of Critical Techniques for Treatment of Burns and Combined Burns and Trauma Injury, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China.
³ School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Background: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are one of the most popular and severe complications of diabetes. The persistent non-healing of DFUs may eventually contribute to severe complications such as amputation, which presents patients with significant physical and psychological challenges. Fibroblasts are critical cells in wound healing and perform essential roles in all phases of wound healing. In diabetic foot patients, the disruption of fibroblast function exacerbates the non-healing of the wound. This study aimed to summarize the hotspots and evaluate the global research trends on fibroblast-related DFUs through bibliometric analysis.

Methods: Scientific publications on the study of fibroblast-related DFUs from January 1, 2000 to April 27, 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Biblioshiny software was primarily performed for the visual analysis of the literature, CiteSpace software and VOSviewer software were used to validate the results.

Results: A total of 479 articles on fibroblast-related DFUs were retrieved. The most published countries, institutions, journals, and authors in this field were the USA, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Wound Repair and Regeneration, and Seung-Kyu Han. In addition, keyword co-occurrence networks, historical direct citation networks, thematic map, and the trend topics map summarize the research hotspots and trends in this field.

Conclusion: Current studies indicated that research on fibroblast-related DFUs is attracting increasing concern and have clinical implications. The cellular and molecular mechanisms of the DFU pathophysiological process, the molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets associated with DFUs angiogenesis, and the measures to promote DFUs wound healing are three worthy research hotspots in this field.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs); fibroblast; pathophysiological process; therapeutic targets.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amputation, Surgical
Bibliometrics
Diabetic Foot*
Fibroblasts
Humans

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81930057, 81772076, 81971836), CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2019-I2M-5-076), Deep Blue Talent Project of Naval Medical University, 234 Academic Climbing Programme of Changhai hospital and Achievements Supportive Fund (2018-CGPZ-B03), Shanghai Rising-Star Program (Sailing Special Program) (No. 23YF1458400).