Global Research Trends and Hotspots on Mitochondria in Acute Lung Injury from 2012–2021: A Bibliometric Analysis

Background: Acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a clinical syndrome associated with mitochondria and lacks effective preventive and therapeutic measures. This bibliometric study aims to gain insight into the scientific findings regarding mitochondria in ALI/ARDS. Methods: We retrieved the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) of the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) for mitochondria in ALI/ARDS publications from 2012–2021. VOSviewer, CiteSpace (5.8. R3) and Bibliometrix (3.1.4) R package were used for further analysis and visualization. Result: A total of 756 English-language articles and reviews were identified. The annual number of publications presented a rapidly developing trend. China was the most productive and cited country, and the USA had the greatest impact. In the keyword co-occurring network, the terms “acute lung injury”, “oxidative stress”, “inflammation”, “mitochondria” and “apoptosis” occurred most frequently. The co-citation network revealed that #1 mesenchymal stromal cell and #3 endothelial cell had the most bursts of citations. In addition, research hotspots have shifted from “potential therapeutic treatments” and “mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)” to “endothelial cell” and “mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)”. Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis reveals the research directions and frontier hotspots of mitochondria in ALI/ARDS, which has shown a rapid growth trend in annual publication numbers. mtDNA, mitophagy, and apoptosis have been the most active research areas, while studies on mitochondrial transfer in stem cells have become a hot topic in recent years.