Visual analysis of mesenchymal stem cell research in liver disease based on bibliometrics

The research of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the field of liver diseases has received more and more attention. This paper introduces the current situation, hot spots, and development trends in this field. Comprehensive searches were conducted using Web of Science Core Collection from January 1, 2000 to December 13, 2021 with the following keywords: TS(topic) = (liver∗OR hepatic∗OR hepatocyte) AND TS(topic) = (Mesenchymal stem cell∗). VOSviewer (version 1.6.16) and CiteSpace V are used as bibliometric tools to analyze and visualize the knowledge graph. A total of 4452 papers were included in this study, and the number of research papers on MSCs in the field of liver diseases increased from January 2000 to December 2020. Eighty-four countries and regions have published articles on research in this field, among which China and the United States are the main two countries of publication. Based on the keyword burst detection, we find that the research in this field has shifted from basic research to clinical application, from medical research to interdisciplinary research. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are the frontier fields of MSCs research in liver diseases. Multicountry, multi-author cooperation, and multi-disciplinary intersection are the research trends in this field. Exocrine body, obesity, and tissue engineering are the hotspots in this field.