Central Nervous System Involvement in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Bibliometric Analysis of Collaboration, Hotspots,...

Research on central nervous system (CNS) involvement in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has expanded rapidly, reflecting growing interest in the interaction between intestinal inflammation and brain-related disorders. This study aimed to systematically map the research landscape of IBD-related CNS involvement and to identify major research hotspots, intellectual structures, and emerging frontiers using bibliometric approaches.

Publications related to IBD and CNS disorders were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2024. Bibliometric and visualization analyses were conducted utilizing CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Bibliometrix to evaluate publication trends, collaboration patterns, thematic evolution and historical development.

A total of 2,429 publications were included. The annual number of publications increased steadily from 2005 to 2024, with a marked acceleration after 2021, indicating increasing scholarly interest in this interdisciplinary field. Sixty-two countries/regions, 2,774 institutions, and 12,399 researchers have contributed to this field. The United States and China emerged as prominent contributors, with Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School recognized as central institutional centers. Thematic and keyword-based analyses revealed that research hotspots have evolved along three interrelated dimensions: a sustained focus on the gut-brain axis as the core mechanistic axis; an expansion of phenotypic profiling from general neurological involvement to a stratified central nervous system (CNS) phenotype spectrum; and a translational progression from descriptive correlations to precise predictions and targeted intervention.

By integrating multiple bibliometric indicators, this study provides the developmental trajectory and thematic structure of IBD-related CNS research. The findings highlight that gut microbiota and gut-brain axis mechanisms as prominent emerging hotspot, while neurodegenerative disorders represent an expanding clinical frontier. Future studies should strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, longitudinal cohort design, multimodal phenotyping, and mechanism-informed translational research.