A bibliometric analysis of studies of exosomes in ischemic stroke published from 2002 to 2021

Recently, research on exosomes in ischemic stroke has become an attractive field worldwide, and therefore the number of relevant publications has increased. The objective of the present study is to visualize the current research status and hotspots in this area by performing bibliometric analysis and helping researchers predict future research trends. Studies regarding exosomes in ischemic stroke were retrieved from the Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index databases of the Web of Science. Knowledge maps were constructed and visualization analysis was performed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace software. In total, 504 publications (336 articles and 168 reviews) published from 2002 to 2021 were identified in this bibliometric analysis. The leading publishing countries were China and the USA, and the top collaborating institutions were Henry Ford Hospital and Oakland University. Analyses of keywords and co-cited references revealed that microRNA, biomarkers, stem cells, therapeutic effects, neurogenesis, and neurovascular plasticity were significant hotspots and emerging trends. According to the bibliometric analysis results, our study identified the research hotspots and emerging trends relevant to exosome involvement in ischemic stroke.