Bibliometric Assessment of the Global Scientific Production of Nitazoxanide

INTRODUCTION: Nitazoxanide is a member of a new class of drug, thiazolides, and it was discovered in 1984 with antimicrobial activity effect against anaerobic bacteria, Hepatitis virus, protozoa, and helminths. METHODS: A bibliometric study on four databases (1984-2016) – Medline, Scopus, LILACS, and SciELO – characterizing the global scientific production of nitazoxanide. We determined the quantity, quality (number of citations), and types of studies developed by each country, characterizing them by years, international cooperation, development, place of publication, authors (with its H-index), and groups with higher impact. RESULTS: There were 512 articles in Medline – the higher scientific production is from the USA (19.71%), Switzerland (7.51%), and Mexico (7.27%). There were 1,440 articles in Scopus – from the USA (8.98%), Mexico (2.13%), and India (1.65%). There were 405 articles in LILACS – from Mexico (4.69%), the USA (4.2%), and Peru (2.47%). There were 47 articles in SciELO – from Brazil (34.04%), Venezuela (21.28%), and Colombia (14.89%). The H-index of nitazoxanide is 75 – the USA (26), Egypt (12), and Canada (10) were the countries contributing more with that. CONCLUSIONS: Nitazoxanide research has been highly important. Nevertheless, it is relatively limited when compared with other drugs. Its research has been led by the USA, as revealed in this bibliometric assessment. Although some developing countries, where it is used especially for protozoa and helminths, probably have its influence, and this explains the fact that Mexico and India, among others, are the top countries in the scientific production of this anti-infective agent. This bibliometric study evidenced a relatively low number of publications, however, it has been increased in recent years.