A scientometric study on research trends and characteristics of discoid lupus erythematosus

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) serves as an interdisciplinary disease involved in dermatology and stomatology in many cases. The purpose of this study was to analyze the scientometric characteristics and research trends of DLE.

All the papers on DLE were comprehensively retrieved from the Scopus database. Discipline comparison (dermatology versus others) and chronological comparison (before 2005 versus 2005-2024) were performed, so that the number of papers can be to some extent compared in the analysis.

Among all the 1239 papers on DLE, 738 (59.6 %) were published by dermatologists. Diagnosis aspect, skin manifestation, facial dermatoses, scar formation, hair loss, epiluminescence microscopy, dermoepidermal junction, arthralgia, anamnesis, young adult, Ro antibody, and dermoscopy were distinctive keywords for dermatologists; While Mouth mucosa, mouth diseases, lip neoplasms, eyelid disease, blepharitis, conjunctivitis, autoantibody, blood, neutrophil, fever, sex difference, preschool child were distinctive keywords for other scholars. Treatment response, dapsone, etretin, clobetasol, mycophenolate mofetil, glucocorticoid, triamcinolone, and drug safety were therapeutic keywords for dermatologists. Whereas quinacrine, alpha tocopherol, hydrocortisone, adverse drug reaction were therapeutic keywords for other scholars. The trend has changed to complication, disease duration, young adult, dermatitis, pruritus, antibody titer, Ro antibody, anamnesis, dermoscopy, arthralgia, dermoepidermal junction, keratosis, and African American, drug withdrawal, tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, etretin, clobetasol, cyclophosphamide, and drug safety after 2005.

This scientometric study elucidated the current scenario and research trends of DLE, and would help in improving in reciprocal collaboration and communication for investigations on this disease.