Global research trends and hotspots on human intestinal fungi and health: a bibliometric visualization study

Abstract

Background: This article employs bibliometric methods and visual maps to delineate the research background, collaborative relationships, hotspots, and trends in the study of gut fungi in human diseases and health.

Methods: Publications related to human gut fungi were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, R software and Microsoft Excel were employed to generate visual representations illustrating the contributions made by countries/regions, authors, organizations, and journals. Employing VOSviewer and CiteSpace, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the retrieved publications, revealing underlying tendencies, research hotspots, and intricate knowledge networks.

Results: This study analyzed a total of 3,954 publications. The United States ranks first in the number of published papers and has the highest number of citations and h-index. Mostafa S Elshahed is the most prolific author. The University of California System is the institution that published the most papers. Frontiers In Microbiology is the journal with the largest number of publications. Three frequently co-cited references have experienced a citation burst lasting until 2024.

Conclusion: Advancements in sequencing technologies have intensified research into human gut fungi and their health implications, shifting the research focus from gut fungal infections towards microbiome science. Inflammatory bowel diseases and Candida albicans have emerged as pivotal areas of interest in this endeavor. Through this study, we have gained a deeper insight into global trends and frontier hotspots within this field, thereby enhancing our understanding of the intricate relationship between gut fungi and human health.

Keywords: CiteSpace; VOSviewer; bibliometric; fungal microbiota; inflammatory bowel disease.

Figure 1

A diagram depicted the sequential evaluation and selection steps. The study encompassed English-language articles published between 2000 and 2024, with the removal of any duplicate publications.

Figure 2

Intestinal fungal related Publication volume overview. The annual publication number and cumulative publication number during 2000 and 2024.

Figure 3

The involvement of various countries in intestinal fungal research. (A) intestinal fungal research collaboration map across countries. Countries are represented by circles, while lines illustrate their collaborations. The weight corresponds to the publication count, line thickness denotes the strength of collaboration, and distinct colors highlight clusters. (B) A chord diagram assessing the global collaboration among clusters. (C) World map illustrating the density of cooperation among countries.

Figure 4

Visualization of the institutions involved in research on intestinal fungal. The study encompassed English-language articles published between 2000 and 2024, with the removal of any duplicate publications.

Figure 5

Publications and co-citation network of journals to the field of intestinal fungal research. (A) Annual publications of the top 10 journals. (B) Cumulative publications of the top 10 journal. (C) The network of collaboration among the top 100 co-cited journals. The nodes indicate the number of citations, while the links represent the intensity of cooperation. (D) The journals co-citation network. The use of different colors for nodes and links in the visualization represents the chronological occurrence of co-citation relationships.

Figure 6

The dual-map visualization presents journals. Citing journals are positioned on the left, while cited journals are positioned on the right. The presence of citation relationships is represented by pathways colored in orange or green.

Figure 7

Authors active in the study of intestinal fungus. (A) The cooperation network of co-occurring authors visualized using VOSviewer. (B) Co-cited authors.

Figure 8

Co-cited references concerning intestinal fungal. (A) The visual network of references to work on human intestinal fungus from 2000 through 2024. (B) The top 20 references with the strongest citation bursts related to human intestinal fungus between 2000 and 2024. The blue line represents the time from its first appearance to 2024, the red line represents the burst time.

Figure 9

The representation of keyword mapping focusing on intestinal fungal. (A) The top 86 keywords were visually represented in a network visualization, with five clusters denoted by different colors. Node size reflects the frequency of occurrence. (B) Visualization of keywords based on density. (C) Top 20 keywords with the most robust bursts of research on human intestinal fungal from 2000 to 2024.