Global Research Trends on Inflammation in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Insights From Bibliometric and Scientometric...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex reproductive-endocrine disorder with an ambiguous etiology, presenting significant challenges for clinical management. Recently, inflammation has been identified as a pivotal factor in the pathogenesis of PCOS, attracting considerable attention within the scientific community. In this study, we used bibliometric and visualization analyses to investigate the research hotspots and developmental trends associated with inflammation in PCOS to obtain valuable insights for future research.

The core collection of the Web of Science database was accessed to retrieve literature on inflammation and PCOS published from 2004 to 2024. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were performed using software tools including CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and GraphPad Prism. The analysis focused on publication year, country, institution, journal, author, publication, and literature keywords.

From January 1, 2004, to July 25, 2024, a total of 2568 articles were published on PCOS and inflammation, which involved 10,920 authors from 2902 research institutions across 92 countries. The volume of literature in this field had consistently increased, with significant contributions from the United States and China. Tehran University of Medical Sciences and the Egyptian Knowledge Base were identified as the most active and influential institutions. "Gynecological Endocrinology" was the leading journal in terms of the number of relevant articles published. Among the published authors, Asemi and Zatollah had the highest publication counts, while Azziz R.'s work received the most citations. Commonly occurring keywords included insulin resistance, obesity, and oxidative stress. Recent literature clustering and keyword analysis identified that resveratrol, granulosa cells, follicular fluid, gut microbiota, and probiotics are current research hotspots in this field. Gut microbiota and infertility are recognized as significant directions for future research.

This bibliometric analysis provides a detailed overview of research on inflammation and PCOS, highlighting its importance in disease progression and the potential for therapeutic targeting of inflammatory pathways.