Visual analysis of research hotspots and trends in the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia with traditional Chinese medicine

Abstract

Objective

Through bibliometrics and visual analysis of the related studies on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), this study aims to sort out the overall research progress, hotspots, and trends in this field, and provide reference for further research in ITP.

Methods

The articles on ITP treated by TCM were retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC), and PubMed. The retrieval time was from the establishment of the databases to July 31, 2022. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Carrot2, and NoteExpress were used for data analysis of the articles in terms of their quantities, types, and journals, and for visualization of research hotspots, authors, institutions, and keywords.

Results

1 493 Chinese articles and 40 English articles were included. The articles in Chinese mainly focus on clinical trial research and clinical experience summary, while the English articles mainly focus on clinical trial research and animal research. The Chinese articles were published in 317 Chinese journals, while English articles were published in 29 English journals. Research hotspots include the clinical syndrome differentiation of ITP, the therapeutic effect of TCM compounds on ITP, and the mechanism of ITP treatment. Keyword analysis shows that there are many research achievements in integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine treatment, clinical research, famous doctors’ experience, TCM treatment, cellular immunity, and humoral immunity. The authors with the most articles in Chinese and English are Professor CHEN Xinyi and Professor MA Rou, respectively, and the research institutions with the most articles are Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. Chinese herbs often used to treat ITP clinically include Xianhecao (Agrimoniae Herba), Nvzhenzi (Ligustri Lucidi Fructus), Mohanlian (Ecliptae Herba), Zhongjiefeng (Sarcandrae Herba), etc., and the prescription usually used to treat ITP include Guipi Decoction (归脾汤), Xijiao Dihuang Decoction (犀角地黄汤), Bazhen Decoction (八珍汤), Erzhi Pill (二至丸), and Xiaochaihu Decoction (小柴胡汤). The main development trends toward retrospective study, TCM treatment mechanism, and data mining.

Conclusion

The research on TCM treatment of ITP has progressed steadily, but in-depth studies and close cooperation between research institutions are necessary for the modernization of TCM in treating ITP.