Mapping the Knowledge Landscape of Muscle Disorders in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Bibliometric and Bioinformatics Study

This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of publications related to the comorbidity between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Muscle Disorders, sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection database between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2024. By examining key characteristics of the published articles, the study aimed to identify global research hotspots in this field. Utilizing tools such as VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Scimago Graphica, and Excel, a visual analysis of the research landscape was performed. The analysis revealed that the annual publication output in this domain exhibited a cyclical fluctuation. The United States led in total publications, followed by China. Publishing institutions formed regional collaborative networks with significant radiating effects. Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden ranked first and second, with 50 and 30 publications, respectively. Regarding specific research topics, the keyword cluster analysis identified 12 thematic clusters, including myositis, tumor necrosis factor, and metabolism. Given that myositis is a research hotspot within the comorbidity of RA and Muscle Disorders, we further employed GeneCards to analyze the correlation between RA and myositis in terms of gene expression and pathways, presenting the results graphically. GeneCards screening identified 359 shared genes. Protein-protein interaction network analysis revealed that genes such as TNF, IL6, and IFNG occupy central positions. KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that the TNF, JAK-STAT, and IL-17 signaling pathways play critical roles.