Ong Shun Seng, Xu Lianjie, Ang Ching Wei, Deng Xiaoyue, Lu Hai, Xu Tianshu
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Drum Tower Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
First Clinical Medical College, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
Front Microbiol. 2024 Dec 6;15:1513723. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1513723. eCollection 2024.
Functional constipation (FC) negatively impacts quality of life and is associated with gut microbiota (GM) imbalances. Despite the growing interest in this area, a thorough analysis of research trends is missing. This study uses bibliometric methods to assess the global research on GM's role in FC, pinpointing key topics, impactful studies, and prominent researchers to guide future research and identify gaps.
In our study, we conducted a performance analysis and science mapping using bibliometric indicators such as publication trends, author and institutional contributions, productivity, impact, keyword analysis, and collaboration networks. We employed software tools like VOSviewer, Biblioshiny, CiteSpace, and SCImago Graphica to automate the assessment of metrics including country, institutional, and journal distribution, authorship, keyword frequency, and citation patterns.
From 2013 to 2024, annual publications on GM and FC rose from 29 to 252, with a slight decrease to 192 in 2024. Average citations per publication peaked at 11.12 in 2021, declining to 6.43 by 2024. China led in research output (37.8%), followed by the United States (14.4%) and Japan (7.5%). Bibliometric analysis identified key authors like CHEN W and ZHANG H, with 30 and 27 articles, respectively. Jiangnan University and Harvard University were top contributors, with 131 and 81 articles. Keywords analysis revealed "constipation," "gut microbiota," and "probiotic" as central themes, with a shift toward "gut microbiota" and "intestinal flora" in recent years. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the research landscape, highlighting leading authors, institutions, and evolving research priorities in the field.
Our review synthesizes current GM and FC research, guiding future studies. It suggests exploring GM in various GI disorders, the impact of lifestyle and drugs on GM, advanced research techniques, and probiotics/prebiotics for FC. There's also a focus on therapies targeting GM's effect on the gut-brain axis, paving the way for improved FC management.
功能性便秘（FC）对生活质量有负面影响，且与肠道微生物群（GM）失衡有关。尽管该领域的研究兴趣日益浓厚，但仍缺乏对研究趋势的全面分析。本研究采用文献计量学方法评估全球关于GM在FC中作用的研究，确定关键主题、有影响力的研究以及杰出的研究人员，以指导未来研究并找出差距。
在我们的研究中，我们使用文献计量指标进行了绩效分析和科学图谱绘制，这些指标包括发表趋势、作者和机构贡献、生产力、影响力、关键词分析以及合作网络。我们使用了VOSviewer、Biblioshiny、CiteSpace和SCImago Graphica等软件工具来自动评估包括国家、机构和期刊分布、作者身份、关键词频率以及引用模式等指标。
2013年至2024年，关于GM和FC的年度出版物从29篇增至252篇，2024年略有下降至192篇。每篇出版物的平均引用次数在2021年达到峰值11.12次，到2024年降至6.43次。中国在研究产出方面领先（37.8%），其次是美国（14.4%）和日本（7.5%）。文献计量分析确定了关键作者，如陈W和张H，分别有30篇和27篇文章。江南大学和哈佛大学是主要贡献者，分别有131篇和81篇文章。关键词分析显示“便秘”“肠道微生物群”和“益生菌”是核心主题，近年来向“肠道微生物群”和“肠道菌群”转变。本研究全面概述了研究格局，突出了该领域的主要作者、机构以及不断演变的研究重点。
我们的综述综合了当前关于GM和FC的研究，为未来研究提供指导。它建议探索GM在各种胃肠道疾病中的作用以及生活方式和药物对GM的影响、先进的研究技术以及用于FC的益生菌/益生元。还重点关注针对GM对肠-脑轴影响的治疗方法，为改善FC管理铺平道路。
