Global biomarkers trends in acute kidney injury: a bibliometric analysis

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common global condition with high morbidity and mortality rates. Biomarkers can aid in the diagnosis, prediction, intervention, and outcome assessment of AKI. This study aimed to summarize the current research status and identify research hotspots for AKI biomarkers using bibliometric analysis.

Relevant original English language articles were retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science Core Collection database, from inception to 31 December 2022. Full records and related cited references from all the documents were collected and analyzed.

A total of 16368 authors from 3379 institutions in 83 countries/regions contributed to 2916 documents that were published in 712 academic journals. Annual publication output followed exponential growth since 2008. The United States, the University of Pittsburgh, and the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology were the most productive countries, institutions, and journals in terms of research outputs, respectively. The area of interest has shifted from neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, cell cycle, and tubular damage toward sepsis and COVID-19. Apoptosis, inflammation, and chronic kidney disease have become popular in recent years, and studies on ferroptosis, machine learning, COVID-19, and renal fibrosis will be the focus of future research.

This bibliometric study suggests that future research on AKI biomarkers would focus on ferroptosis, renal fibrosis and COVID-19. Artificial intelligence, such as machine learning, maybe the most promising direction for the discovery and validation of AKI biomarkers.