Neurological Disorders

An Analysis of Global Research Hotspots and Trends on Gut Brain Axis with Web-Based Scientific Database

Abstract

Wei Ma, Yi-Bao Yang, Ting-Ting Xie, Zhi-Ying Gong and Xue-Ni Mo*

Background: Since it was first mentioned in the early 200 century, the brain gut axis, a bidirectional pathway mediating between the gastrointestinal system and the central nervous system (CNS), has attracted increasing attention and has been found to play an important role in the treatment of certain diseases. Our study aims to analyze the scientific results of the brain gut axis research and identify the major research hotspots and frontier areas of the brain gut axis.

Materials and methods: Publications focusing on the brain gut axis were retrieved from the Web of Science core collection database and screened according to the inclusion criteria. Citespace5.8.R3 and Microsoft Excel 2019 were used to evaluate and visualize the results, including the generation of web maps and the analysis of annual publications, countries, categories, bibliographic and co-cited references, and keywords, etc. The retrieval time of the article was from January 1^st, 2012 to March 31^st, 2022.

Results: A total of 2309 original articles related to the brain gut axis were retrieved, and the overall number of those articles showed a rapid rising trend. According to our research results, the articles published by Clarke and G in 2013 are the most symbolic references in the field of brain gut axis, with the highest citation rate (910 times). Nutrition is the most active Journal (81 articles) and the most published articles are in the United States (661 articles). We also observed that the leading institutions are Univ coll cork (82 articles) and cryan JF, John cryan, Dinan TG, which have made outstanding contributions in this field. Additionally, the most common keywords are the gut and most of the mechanisms of the gut, the role of microorganisms in the gut flora brain axis and their application in intestinal syndrome.

Conclusion: With increasing evidence on the role of the brain gut axis in IBS and other diseases, application of the brain gut axis has gradually become a new research hotspot in clinical treatment, which deserves further research.