Research topics and trends of pyroptosis based on bibliometric analysis

This study employs bibliometric methods, utilizing tools such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer, to conduct a multidimensional analysis of literatures on cell pyroptosis indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. The research encompasses global publication trends, national collaboration networks, institutional competitiveness, keyword trends, and citation clustering, aiming to reveal the knowledge landscape and frontiers of this field. Current studies in pyroptosis highlight a global collaborative framework centered on China and the US. This has led to the emergence of two highly effective institutional research modes: one that maintains an equilibrium between volume and impact, and another that prioritizes top-tier elite quality. This study reveals that the field has evolved from investigating the fundamental mechanisms of inflammasomes (such as NLRP3 assembly) to discovering effector protein functions (centered on GSDMD), and subsequently to elucidating pathological mechanisms and exploring clinical applications. By ranking keywords based on integrated metrics and trend factor analysis, this study identifies three major frontier directions: (1) Deepening mechanistic research, shifting from classical pathways to complex regulatory networks involving cellular metabolic homeostasis and pyroptosis; (2) Establishing new frameworks for programmed cell death mode interactions, exemplified by PANoptosis; (3) Focusing on GSDM protein-targeted therapies and nanodelivery technology development to advance clinical translation.