Comprehensive bibliometric and visualized analysis of research on gut-liver axis published from 1998 to 2022

The concept of the gut-liver axis was proposed by Marshall in 1998, and since then, this hypothesis has been gradually accepted by the academic community. Many publications have been published on the gut-liver axis, making it important to assess the scientific implications of these studies and the trends in this field.

Publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. Microsoft Excel, CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Scimago Graphica software were used for bibliometric analysis.

A total of 776 publications from the Web of Science core database were included in this study. In the past 25 years, the number of publications on the gut-liver axis has shown an upward trend, particularly in the past 3 years (2020-2022). China had the highest number of publications (267 articles, 34.4%). However, the United States was at the top regarding influence and international cooperation in this field. The University of California San Diego had contributed the most publications. Suk, Ki Tae and Schnabl, Bernd were tied for the first rank in most publications. Thematic hotspots and frontiers were focused on gut microbiota, microbial metabolite, intestinal permeability, bacterial translocation, bile acid, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and alcoholic liver disease.

Our study is the first bibliometric analysis of literature using visualization software to present the current research status of the gut-liver axis over the past 25 years. The damage and repair of intestinal barrier function, as well as the disruption of gut microbiota and host metabolism, should be a focus of attention. This study can provide a reference for later researchers to understand the global research trends, hotspots, and frontiers in this field.