ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging
Sec. Cellular Senescence
This article is part of the Research TopicCellular Senescence in Aging-Related Diseases: Mechanisms and Therapeutic TargetsView all 10 articles
Research hotspots and trends of senolytic therapy: a bibliometric and visualization analysis from 2015 to 2025
Provisionally accepted
- 1Medical College of Acu-Moxi and Rehabilitation, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
- 2Shenzhen Hospital (Fu Tian) of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China
- 3Guangzhou Panyu Health Management Center (Guangzhou Panyu Rehabilitation Hospital), Guangzhou, China
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Background: Cellular senescence is a key driver of aging and chronic diseases. By selectively eliminating senescent cells, senolytic agents have emerged as promising therapeutic strategies. This study aims to map the research hotspots, trends, and progress of senolytic therapy over the past decade, offering actionable insights for future research. Methods: Relevant publications on senolytic therapy from January 1, 2015 to November 21, 2025 were retrieved from multi-databases including Scopus and the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Bibliometric analyses were performed using CiteSpace 6.4R1, VOSviewer 1.6.20 and GraphPad Prism to visualize trends in research output, collaborative networks, and emerging hotspots. Results: A total of 1,381 publications were included. Annual publication output grew exponentially following 2019, with a further surge in 2023. The United States led in both publication volume and citation impact, followed by China. The Mayo Clinic emerged as the most influential institution. Key contributors included Kirkland (the most productive author) and Zhu, Yi (the most co-cited author), while Aging Cell led in both publication productivity and citation influence. Zhu, Yi's 2015 study in Aging Cell was not only the most co-cited reference but also the one with the strongest citation burst. Keyword analysis identified three core research clusters: mechanisms of senescence and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), applied use of senolytic therapies, and recent focus on senotherapeutic agents and molecular targeted therapy. Potential future research directions include novel discoveries in cellular senescence mechanisms, targeted drug delivery systems, and biomarker-guided clinical translation, with initiatives such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) SenNet driving critical advancements. Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of senolytic therapy over the past decade. It highlights the leading countries, institutions, authors, and journals contributing to this field, reveals current research hotspots, and outlines promising directions for future investigation.
Keywords: bibliometric analysis, cellular senescence, Emerging topics, Research hotspots, Senolytic therapy
Received: 26 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Feng, Wang, Zhou, Lin, He, Cui and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Bingjie He
Shaoyang Cui
Chunzhi Tang
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