Bibliometric Analysis of the Relationship between Gut Microbiota and Chronic Kidney Disease from 2001–2022

Abstract

The gut microbiota is closely associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) development and prognosis. However, a comprehensive understanding of publication trends and research focuses within this domain remains limited. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between the gut microbiota and CKD through a bibliometric analysis. Literature published between 2001 and 2022 on gut microbiota and CKD was obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database. Bibliometric analysis tools such as VOSviewer and CiteSpace were used to analyze research trends in this area. We extracted 758 articles for further analysis. China ranked first with 240 published documents, followed by the USA with 211. However, the USA ranked first regarding citation frequency with 11,380 citations, while China ranked second. The University of California Irvine and Kidney International emerged as the leading institution and journal, respectively, with the former leading in document production and citations. Although Kidney International featured fewer documents than other journals, it exhibited the highest citation count. The keywords representing the research interests mainly included: (1) gut microbiota influences the development of CKD, (2) application of probiotics in the treatment of CKD, and (3) potential mechanism of gut microbiota in CKD. Our analysis indicates significant advancements in understanding the association between gut microbiota and CKD. It also provides a comprehensive overview of publication trends, research hotspots, and frontiers, which may provide guidelines for future research.