Emerging trends and hotspots in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and oxidative stress: a bibliometric and...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a long-term respiratory condition defined by ongoing respiratory symptoms and restricted airflow, resulting in high rates of morbidity, mortality, and disability for this condition. Due to the incomplete understanding of its pathogenesis, no permanent curative measures or specific drugs are available. In recent years, a multitude of research has highlighted the substantial influence of oxidative stress on the development of COPD; however, there has been a deficiency in bibliometric analyses focusing on research trends and hotspots in the field. Therefore, our study aimed at presenting the emerging trends and hotspots related to COPD and oxidative stress.

Publications concerning oxidative stress in COPD were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database, covering the period from 2010 to 2024. On July 25, 2024, all relevant data were downloaded, followed by a process of data screening and analysis.

The analysis incorporated 1,308 articles and 440 reviews, involving contributions from 1,034 researchers affiliated with 512 institutions across 64 countries published in a total of 548 journals. Through a series of analyses using five visualization tools, we identified the top 5 most productive countries, institutions, journals, and highly co-cited journals in the field from 2010 to 2024. We also identified 12 citation clusters, 10 influential authors, co-cited authors and articles, and 11 keyword clusters, established the top 20 keywords, and observed the evolution of reference and keyword bursts.

This study is the first to quantitatively capture the progress of oxidative stress in the field of COPD research, and the results show a marked upward trend in recent years in terms of research on COPD and oxidative stress. Developing novel effective antioxidants is becoming the future direction for COPD treatment. Besides antioxidant therapy, exposure (to air pollution), cigarette smoke, and mitochondrial dysfunction emerged as prominent research hotspots. This extensive bibliometric study offers significant insights into the exploration of oxidative stress in publications related to COPD with the purpose to support and enhance future scientific research for investigators in the field.