EVOLVING TRENDS AND EMERGING THEMES IN GUT MICROBIOTA RESEARCH: A COMPREHENSIVE BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS (2015-2024).

Abstract

Background: This study aims to analyze research trends and emerging insights into gut microbiota studies from 2015 to 2024 through bibliometric analysis techniques. By examining bibliographic data from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection, it seeks to identify key research topics, evolving themes, and significant shifts in gut microbiota research. The study employs co-occurrence analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and burst detection analysis to uncover latent patterns and the development trajectory of this rapidly expanding field.

Methods: This study uses a bibliometric approach to analyze 89,512 gut microbiota research articles published between 2015 and 2024 in the WoS Core Collection. Data preprocessing involved cleaning bibliographic data and identifying the 50 most frequent keywords. A co-occurrence matrix was constructed to capture keyword relationships, and a heatmap visualization illustrated these interconnections. PCA applied for dimensionality reduction, visualizing keyword distributions. Burst detection analysis using Kleinberg's algorithm identified rapidly growing research topics. Finally, the study contextualized its findings by linking results to broader research developments and discussing future research directions and potential opportunities.

Results: The bibliometric analysis of gut microbiota research from 2015 to 2024 revealed significant trends and emerging themes. The total number of publications on gut microbiota increased approximately 5.82 times during this period, indicating a rapid expansion of the field. Co-occurrence analysis identified key thematic clusters, with "diet", "microbiome", and "immune function" emerging as central research topics. PCA further clarified topic relationships, revealing strong associations between gut microbiota and metabolic diseases, inflammation, and neurological disorders. Burst analysis of key terms demonstrated a shift in research focus, with increasing attention on the role of gut microbiota in precision medicine, neuroinflammation, and host-microbiome interactions. These findings provide a comprehensive overview of gut microbiota research trends, offering insights into critical developments and guiding future investigations into microbiome-based therapies and disease prevention.

Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of gut microbiota research from 2015 to 2024, highlighting key trends and emerging directions. The findings show that gut microbiota studies have expanded to include diet, health, and disease. The strong link between "diet" and "microbiota" in this study suggests dietary interventions are central to this future research. Rapidly growing keywords like "intestinal", "disease", and "mice" indicate a focus on translational and experimental research. These insights reveal the shifting landscape of gut microbiota research and emphasize the need for further exploration of diet-microbiota interactions, personalized nutrition, and clinical applications.