Bibliometric Analysis of MSC-based Therapies for Non-COVID-19 ARDS

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) poses a significant challenge as it lacks specific treatments and can occur due to various etiologies. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as a promising cell-based therapy for ARDS due to their immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fibrotic properties. Despite encouraging findings from preclinical studies, clinical evidence supporting the efficacy of MSCs in non-COVID-19 ARDS remains insufficient.

We conducted a systematic search of three major databases (Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and PubMed) to identify original articles focusing on MSCs in non-COVID-19 ARDS. Subsequently, we employed the bibliometric package in R Studio to analyze and visualize bibliometric indicators derived from the retrieved articles.

Our analysis of 244 original studies revealed a notable trend in research on MSCs and non-COVID-19 ARDS. While the number of publications in this area saw an increase beginning in 2007, it exhibited a decline after 2019, with only 20 articles published in 2022. Notably, a significant proportion (131/244) of these studies originated from Chinese scholars. MSC derivatives emerged as a recent research focus due to their unique advantages as an alternative to MSCs. Specifically, umbilical cord/placental-derived MSCs have gained traction, surpassing the use of bone marrow-derived MSCs by 2022. The route of delivery is still mainly intravenous. Despite the potential advantages of the intratracheal route for lung-related diseases, the intravenous route remains the preferred mode of drug delivery.

Research on non-COVID-19 ARDS deserves further attention and investments. Existing studies have primarily focused on MSC derivatives that have shown clinical efficacy. Furthermore, umbilical cord/placental-derived MSCs are expected to replace traditional bone marrow- derived MSCs in research. Intratracheal delivery, which offers advantages for treating pulmonary diseases, still requires extensive experiments to validate.