A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Progress on Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Autophagy From 2010 to 2024

Autophagy regulates intracellular metabolism and is crucial in the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Despite the growing number of studies on AMD and autophagy in recent years, bibliometric analyses in this field remain scarce. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was applied to explore the research trends and hot spots of this field in this study.

We collected publications on autophagy in AMD from the MEDLINE database, covering the period from January 2010 to October 2024. The "bibliometrix" R package (Version R 4.2.3) was utilized for bibliometric analysis, and WPS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word (12.1.0.18276) were used to manage data and create related tables.

A total of 349 articles were included. The amount of literature was on the rise from 2010 to 2024. China leads in article quantity, whereas the United States holds the most influence. Although Finland ranks the third position in publication volume, followed by China and the United States, Finland led research in this field, with the University of Eastern Finland being the most active and prolific institution and Kaarniranta Kai as the most productive and influential author. International Journal of Molecular Sciences and Autophagy is the journal with the most volume. The three most referenced studies primarily examine the interplay between inflammation, oxidative stress, and autophagy in retinal pigment epithelial cells. The analysis for keywords found that mitophagy has also received increasing attention in this field.

This bibliometric analysis identifies current research hotspots in autophagy related to AMD and informs future research directions. Future trends in this field may involve identifying and developing novel autophagy-targeted therapies for the prevention and treatment of AMD.