AUTHOR=Zhang Shun-Bai , Zhao Guang-Hai , Lv Tian-Run , Gong Chao-Yang , Shi Yong-Qiang , Nan Wei , Zhang Hai-Hong 

TITLE=Bibliometric and visual analysis of microglia-related neuropathic pain from 2000 to 2021

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2023.1142852

DOI=10.3389/fnmol.2023.1142852

ISSN=1662-5099

ABSTRACT=Background: Microglia has gradually gained researchers’ attention in the past few decades and showed its promising prospect in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Our study was performed to have a comprehensive evaluation of microglia-related neuropathic pain via a bibliometric approach.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed publications focusing on microglia-related neuropathic pain from 2000 to 2021 in WoSCC. VOS viewer software and CiteSpace software were used for statistical analyses.
Results: A total of 2609 articles were finally included. A steady increase in the number of relevant publications was observed in the past two decades. China is the most productive country, while the USA shares the most-cited and highest H-index country. The University of London, Kyushu University, and the University of California are the top 3 institutions with the highest number of publications. Molecular pain and Pain are the most productive and co-cited journals respectively. Inoue K (Kyushu University) is the most-contributed researcher and Ji RR (Duke University) ranks 1st in both average citations per article and H-index. Keywords analyses revealed that pro-inflammatory cytokines shared the highest burst strength. Sex differences, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress are the emerging keywords in recent years.
Conclusions: In the field of microglia-related neuropathic pain, China is the largest producer and the USA is the most influential country. The signaling communication between microglia and neurons has continued to be vital in this field. Sexual dimorphism, neuroinflammation, and stem-cell therapies might be emerging trends that should be closely monitored.