REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1615045
Global trends and hotspots of inflammation in diabetic retinopathy: a literature review and bibliometric analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Endocrinology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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Background: Diabetic retinopathy is a global public health problem in which inflammation plays a pivotal role. In this study, we assessed the current landscape of research on inflammation in diabetic retinopathy and identified emerging frontiers using bibliometric analysis. Methods: Relevant publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database, and VOSviewer and CiteSpace were employed for bibliometric analysis and visualization. Results: Overall, 3419 publications on inflammation in diabetic retinopathy over the past 44 years were identified, exhibiting an upward trend. China possessed the largest number of publications, while the United States had the most citations. Shanghai Jiao Tong University was the most active institution, and Investigative Ophthalmology Visual Science was the most productive journal. Timothy S. Kern contributed the most publications with the highest total/average citations. Research mainly focused on the risk factors, mechanisms, and potential therapies in this field. The roles of the NLRP3 inflammasome and gut microbiota, the correlation between diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, dentification and optical coherence tomography were potential future directions. Conclusion: We provide a systematic overview of the academic literature on inflammation in diabetic retinopathy over recent decades. The United States and China have been pivotal in conducting research in this field. Optical coherence tomography screening and the precise identification of inflammation in diabetic retinopathy are likely to emerge as the next area of focus. Further understanding the roles of NLRP3 and the gut microbiota in inflammation in diabetic retinopathy is also a potential research direction. Additionally, identifying the mechanisms of inflammation underlying diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration is a cutting-edge and urgent research priority.
Keywords: Diabetic Retinopathy, Inflammation, VOSviewer, Citespace, bibliometric analysis
Received: 21 Apr 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhong, Yao and Jin. 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: Yamei Jin, Department of Endocrinology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310006, Jiangsu Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.