Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Bibliometric and Bioinformatics Perspective on Comorbidity Research

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology and Pain Medicine
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Background:

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are prevalent chronic pain conditions with complex diagnostic and treatment challenges.
• Systematic reviews on the pathological mechanisms, epidemiology, and research trends of RA-FMS comorbidity are lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and analyze the research dynamics and knowledge structure of RA-FMS comorbidity.
• To explore the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms of RA-FMS comorbidity.

Main Methods:

• Bibliometric analysis of 760 articles published between 2015 and 2024 from the Web of Science database.
• Co-occurrence and clustering analyses of countries, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords using VOSviewer and CiteSpace.
• Identification of shared genes and exploration of molecular mechanisms using GeneCards, PPI, and KEGG analyses.

Main Results:

• The United States leads in publication output, with the University of Michigan and Karolinska Institute as leading institutions.
• Daniel J. Clauw is the most prolific and cited author, and research predominantly focuses on clinical aspects.
• Analysis identified 216 overlapping genes and suggested roles for inflammatory reactions and neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions in comorbidity.

Conclusions:

• Current research on RA-FMS comorbidity requires greater depth in mechanistic understanding.
• Future research should prioritize interdisciplinary collaboration to investigate neuroimmune regulation, central sensitization, and inflammation-pain pathways.
• Establishing a unified comorbidity framework for RA-FMS is essential.