A Bibliometric Analysis and Scientific Knowledge Map Study of the Current Status and Development Trends of Drug Therapy Related to Pulmonary Fibrosis

Abstract

Objective: Recently, the study of pulmonary fibrosis drugs has been increasing steadily. The value of the clinical application of these drugs has been widely concerned. This study aimed to analyze the current status, hot contents, research frontiers and developing trends surrounding drugs for treating patients with pulmonary fibrosis. Methods: Articles concerning drug therapy for pulmonary fibrosis published between 1 January 1980 and 5 October 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database. Only articles published in English were included. Collaborative network analysis of annual publications, countries/regions, institutions, journals, keywords, authors and co-citation analysis of references were shown by CiteSpace 6.1.R2 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 software. Results: 502 articles and 522 keywords on pulmonary fibrosis drugs were included. China was the leading country with the most annual publications and Beijing Univ Chinese Med was the most active institution. The most published journal was Frontiers in Pharmacology and the most cited journal was American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Maghu Toby TM and Bouros Demosthenes were the most published researchers in this field. 958 articles were cited from 1980 to 2022, mainly derived from influential journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine (Q1, impact factor 176.079). The co-occurrence of keywords showed that the current research hotspots and frontiers were as follows: ① Fully revealing the role and potential of existing drugs, determining the best route of administration, and proposing ideas for drug combinations; ② Conducting further research on the diagnosis, efficacy, survival and evaluation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, cancer, and lung injury; ③Based on star signal transduction pathways and molecules, studying the intervention mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis surrounding various pathological phenotypes such as the inflammatory response and dysregulation of oxidative stress; ④ Gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms of action of pirfenidone and nintedanib. Conclusions: This study reveals the global research hotspots and developing trends of drugs for pulmonary fibrosis patients, and helps researchers quickly understand the current research status and hot contents in this growing field.