Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis of Uremic Toxin Research

Uremic toxins accumulate as kidney disease progresses, contributing to diverse systemic disorders. Despite numerous studies, no comprehensive mapping has been performed. In this study, keywords related to uremic toxins were quantitatively analyzed using bibliometric methods to clarify research trends, key molecules, and unresolved challenges. Literature and molecular data on uremic toxins and chronic kidney disease were retrieved from the Web of Science and the European Uremic Toxin Work Group (EUTox) databases. Network, citation burst, and keyword frequency analyses were performed using KeyWords Plus. In total, 3302 articles were identified, showing an increasing trend. Citation burst analysis revealed a growing interest in gut microbiota-related topics (burst strength = 15.21), whereas keyword frequency analysis indicated that indoxyl sulfate (566 articles) and p-cresyl sulfate (537 articles) were the most studied toxins. Toxins such as trimethylamine-N-oxide have gained attention over the past 5 years. Analysis of the EUTox database identified 24 protein-bound uremic toxins; among the 94 toxins with unreported clinical toxicity, 15 molecules, including osteocalcin and quinolinic acid, were investigated in <5 studies. These findings suggest that the gut microbiota and related uremic toxins are current research focuses; however, further investigation of underreported uremic toxins is required to define their clinical significance.