SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology
This article is part of the Research TopicNeuro-Immune Crosstalk in Peripheral Neuropathy: From Mechanisms to Therapeutic OpportunitiesView all 7 articles
Visualized Knowledge Mapping on the Current Research Trends and Emerging Areas of Neuroimmune Modulation in the Past Two Decades
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Anesthesiology, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Affiliated Renji Hospital, Shanghai, China
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Aim: Reference data analysis and visualization methods were applied to identify current knowledge mapping methods in the neuroimmune modulation research field. Methods: A comprehensive search of publications within the field of neuroimmune modulation in the Web of Science Core Collection database and PubMed from 2005--2024 was conducted. The reference type was restricted to articles and reviews in the WOSCC database and clinical trials in PubMed. The data were visualized and analyzed via visualization and bibliometric tools, including CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Results: A total of 5,280 publications were included in the field of neuroimmune modulation. The United States ranked first as the most influential country in terms of both publication number and academic influence. Harvard University had the greatest impact on institutions. The leading scientists in the neuroimmune modulation field have focused on the mechanism at both the peripheral and central levels. Citation analysis and cocitation analysis revealed that acute kidney injury, neuropathic pain, and neuronal regulation are key focal points in neuroimmune research. Furthermore, keyword analysis revealed that "inflammation", "neuroinflammation", "microglia", "cytokines", "cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway" and "neuroimmune" had more than 200 co-occurrences and represented research hotspots in this field. A total of 73 clinical trials were identified that targeted neuroimmune modulation to treat diseases. These studies highlighted the central role of the neuroimmune network in diseases, with a particular emphasis on innovative therapies that regulate inflammation through the cholinergic system. Further exploration is needed to develop precise intervention strategies targeting specific cytokines. Conclusions: This analysis provides comprehensive knowledge mapping in the current research field of neuroimmune modulation. The trends in the field include mechanism studies combined with neuronal regulation. Neuroimmune crosstalk might provide new therapeutic targets for treating nervous system diseases.
Keywords: Neuroimmune modulation, crosstalk, Web of Science, PubMed, Visualized knowledge mapping, Citespace, VOSviewer, Co-citation analysis
Received: 23 Jul 2025; Accepted: 20 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Han, Zhou and Gu. 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: Xiyao Gu, gxykevin@126.com
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