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Review
. 2022 Nov 23;14(12):2574.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14122574.

Investigation of Trends in the Research on Transferrin Receptor-Mediated Drug Delivery via a Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis

Tarnjot Kaur  1 , Jyoti Upadhyay  1 , Sudeep Pukale  2 , Ashish Mathur  3   4 , Mohd Nazam Ansari  5
Affiliations
Review

Investigation of Trends in the Research on Transferrin Receptor-Mediated Drug Delivery via a Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis

Tarnjot Kaur et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

This study systematically reviews and characterizes the existing literature on transferrin/transferrin receptor-mediated drug delivery. Transferrin is an iron-binding protein. It can be used as a ligand to deliver various proteins, genes, ions, and drugs to the target site via transferrin receptors for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes via transferrin receptors. This study is based on a cross-sectional bibliometric analysis of 583 papers limited to the subject areas of pharmacology, toxicology, and pharmaceutics as extracted from the Scopus database in mid-September 2022. The data were analyzed, and we carried out a performance analysis and science mapping. There was a significant increase in research from 2018 onward. The countries that contributed the most were the USA and China, and most of the existing research was found to be from single-country publications. Research studies on transferrin/transferrin receptor-mediated drug delivery focus on drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier in the form of nanoparticles. The thematic analysis revealed four themes: transferrin/transferrin receptor-mediated drug delivery to the brain, cancer cells, gene therapy, nanoparticles, and liposomes as drug delivery systems. This study is relevant to academics, practitioners, and decision makers interested in targeted and site-specific drug delivery.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; drug delivery; performance analysis; scientific mapping; thematic analysis; transferrin receptor.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The items expressed in this article are personal and do not represent those of the Lupin Research Park.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flow.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Annual scientific publications relating to transferrin/transferrin receptor-mediated drug delivery. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Global citations. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Most relevant affiliations. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Most relevant authors. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Selected author-specific publications. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Authors’ countries. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Most relevant sources. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Co-citation network. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Collaboration network. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Three-field plot. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Thematic evolution. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Thematic map. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Word growth. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Trending topics. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Co-occurrence network. Source: Authors’ elaboration using the Bibliometrix R-package.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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