Research Trends of Macrophage Polarization: A Bibliometric Analysis

Macrophage polarization is involved in the development of many diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer. This study aimed to understand the trends and hotspots of macrophage polarization research.

We searched through the Web of Science Core Collection database to obtain original articles in this research domain. CiteSpace, HistCite, and VOSviewer software were used to facilitate the analysis and visualization of scientific productivity and emerging trends.

The survey included 3064 articles, and the annual number of publications exhibited an exponential increase. These articles have received a total of 74,801 citations, and the number of annual citations grew from 68 to 18,074 in a decade. Research on macrophage polarization was performed in 76 countries, and the USA ranked first in terms of research output by contributing 1129 (36.8%) articles. The USA also had the highest H-index, total citations, and highly cited article number. PLOS One, Journal of Immunology, and Scientific Reports were the three journals that published the most articles. Interdisciplinary research areas involving macrophage polarization, such as biomaterials, cancer, and diabetes, were identified by journal citation analysis. The top 20 most productive institutions were located mainly in the USA, France, and China, and top authors originated mainly from the USA and Italy. Tumor biology, obesity, and infection were research hotspots and may be promising in the next few years.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis that delineates the scientific productivity, collaboration, and research hotspots of macrophage polarization research.