Mapping global research trends in stem cell therapy for inflammatory bowel disease: a bibliometric analysis from 1991 to 2019

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) represents a series of digestive system abnormalities and parenteral manifestations. Stem cell therapy has been regarded as a promising treatment for IBD. METHODS: We searched Web of Science Core Collection for publications of interest from 1991 to 2019. Publication performance was analyzed using several bibliometric parameters, including Statplanet to reveal the geographic distribution of the publications, VOSviewer to identify the research landscape of hot topics, and CiteSpace to show keywords with the strongest citation bursts. RESULTS: A total of 1230 publications were identified, of which 674 articles were analyzed further. The United States was the most productive country and Spanish researchers published the highest quality articles. At a journal level, Gastroenterology published the greatest number of articles, while articles from Gut had the highest citation number. Results from the research landscape analysis of hot topics and the top 20 terms with the strongest citation bursts indicated that animal experiments, immunocytes, intestinal epithelial cells, cytokine expression, and clinical efficacy were the main focuses of research. CONCLUSION: Stem cell therapy for IBD is currently receiving increasing attention by researchers, with focuses on animal experiments, immunocytes, intestinal epithelial cells, cytokine expression, and clinical efficacy.