Knowledge mapping of extracellular vesicles in wound healing: A bibliometric analysis (2002-2022)

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles in wound healing have become an active research field with substantial value and potential. Nevertheless, there are few bibliometric studies in this field. We aimed to visualise the research hot spots and trends of extracellular vesicles in wound healing using a bibliometric analysis to help understand the future development of basic and clinical research. The articles and reviews regarding extracellular vesicles in the wound healing were selected from the Web of Science Core Collection. VOSviewers, CiteSpace and R package "bibliometric" were used to conduct this bibliometric analysis. A total of 1225 articles from 56 countries led by China and the United States were included. The number of publications related to extracellular vesicles increased year by year. Shanghai Jiaotong University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University and Central South University are the main research institutions. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is the most popular journal in this field, while Stem Cell Research & Therapy is the most frequently cited journal. These papers come from 7546 authors, among which Zhang Wei has published the most papers and Zhang Bin has the most cocited papers. The research on the treatment strategy of extracellular vesicles in the process of wound healing is the main topic in this field. "exosomes", "miRNA", "angiogenesis", "regenerative medicine", "inflammation" and "diabetic wound" are the main key words of emerging research hotspots. This is the first bibliometric study, which comprehensively summarises the research trend and development of extracellular vesicles and exocrine bodies in wound healing. These informations determine the latest research frontiers and hot directions, and provide reference for the study of extracellular vesicles and exosomes.

Keywords: CiteSpace; VOSviewers; bibliometrics; extracellular vesicles; wound healing.