Exploring the relationship between intestinal immunity and obesity: A bibliometric and knowledge-map analysis

This study aimed to identify influential researchers, institutions, and countries and reveal the evolution of research hotspots and themes in the field of the relationship between intestinal immunity and obesity through bibliometric analysis.

We searched and selected the Web of Science database for publications on intestinal immunity and obesity between 2004 and 2024, followed by bibliometric and visualization analysis using CiteSpace, GraphPad Prism 8, Gephi, and Charticulator.

A total of 3333 publications involving 16,144 authors, 3372 research institutions, and 97 countries or regions were analyzed. The United States led in both total publication counts and betweenness centrality. The influential institutions in this field were the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale and the University of Reading, which ranked first in publication output and betweenness centrality, respectively. Patrice D. Cani was the most influential researcher. Research on the relationship between intestinal immunity and obesity mainly focused on the pathogenesis of obesity and obesity-related diseases. Academic attention to obesity pathogenesis shifted from innate to adaptive immunity and transitioned from gut dysbiosis to microbial metabolites. Meanwhile, obesity-related diseases evolved from intestinal disorders to metabolic dysfunction-related cardiovascular diseases and liver diseases. The research themes in this field evolved through 3 stages: the early stage focused on investigating the mechanisms of obesity and its complications through gut research; the middle stage concentrated on the impact of intestinal inflammation and gut microbiota on obesity onset and progression; and the recent stage emphasized the development of specific microbiota or metabolites and the role of certain immune cell populations in the development of obesity.

Over the past 20 years, research on intestinal immunity and obesity has experienced the initial rapid expansion, stabilization period, and current breakthrough period. The in-depth application of multi-omics analysis and artificial intelligence, as well as the development of gene editing technology, may provide new ideas for targeted modulation of specific intestinal immune cells or microbes for obesity treatment, which may be the main direction of future research in this field.