The interactions between traditional Chinese medicine and gut microbiota: Global research status and trends

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a crosstalk between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and gut microbiota (GM), many articles have studied and discussed the relationship between the two. The purpose of this study is to use bibliometric analysis to explore the research status and development trends of the TCM/GM research, identify and analyze the highly cited papers relating to the TCM/GM.MethodsA literature search regarding TCM/GM publications from 2004 to 2021 was undertaken on August 13, 2022. The main information (full record and cited references) of publications was extracted from the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) of Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). The Bibliometrix of R package, CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used for bibliometric analysis.ResultsA total of 830 papers were included. The publication years of papers were from 2004 to 2021. The number of papers had increased rapidly since 2018. China had the most publications and made most contributions to this field. Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine were in the leading productive position in TCM/GM research, Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences had the highest total citations (TC). Duan Jin-ao from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine had the largest number of publications, and Tong Xiao-lin from China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences had the most TC. The Journal of Ethnopharmacology had the most published papers and the most TC. The main themes in TCM/GM included the role of GM in TCM treatment of glucolipid metabolism diseases and lower gastrointestinal diseases; the mechanism of interactions between GM and TCM to treat diseases; the links between TCM/GM and metabolism; and the relationship between GM and oral bioavailability of TCM.ConclusionThis study gained insight into the research status, hotspots and trends of global TCM/GM research, identified the most cited articles in TCM/GM and analyzed their characteristics, which may inform clinical researchers and practitioners’ future directions.

Effects of Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizoma polysaccharide on intestinal microbiota composition in rats with mammary gland hyperplasia

“…The earliest understanding of the mammary gland in Chinese medicine can be traced back to the Nei Jing, where it is written that “a woman’s breast belongs to the liver, while the nipple belongs to the stomach” and that “Chong and Ren meridians can regulate the Qi and blood of the 12 meridians and they stop at the breast upward and form menstruation downward”, which explains the close relationship between the breast and the spleen and stomach in terms of physiological function and meridian affiliation. Chinese herbal medicine has a very beneficial effect on the balance of the intestinal micro-ecolozy, and the intestinal microbiota coincides with the theory of “spleen and stomach” in Chinese Medicine ( 21 – 23 ). Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizoma is the dry rhizome of the Asteraceae plant Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz , which has the effect of strengthening the spleen and stomach, drying and dampening water.…”

Exploring global research status and trends in anti-obesity effects of traditional Chinese medicine through intestinal microbiota: a bibliometric study

“…As far as we know, no bibliometric studies have been reported to assess the hotspots and research trends of TCM intervention in IM for obesity prevention and treatment. Therefore, this research leverages acclaimed bibliometric software like VOSviewer and CiteSpace for analysis (Yang et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022;Wei et al, 2023). In the course of our investigation, we observed a consistent increase in the quantity of studies pertaining to TCM intervention in IM for obesity prevention and treatment since 2009.…”

MXene nanomaterials in biomedicine: A bibliometric perspective

“…The biological applications of MXene have been discussed in numerous review publications, however, these mainly focus on the current status of overall biological applications ( Huang et al, 2018 ; Koyappayil et al, 2022 ; Parajuli et al, 2022 ) or only address a specific biomedical application such as their use as antibacterial agents, biosensors or for cancer imaging and treatment ( Ali et al, 2022 ; Hao et al, 2022 ; Ranjbari et al, 2022 ). Bibliometric analysis is a research method that statistically evaluates and visually presents the current state-of-the-art, most influential studies and upcoming trends of a given field of research ( Yang et al, 2022 ). Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of different metrics such as countries, institutional authors, keywords, etc.…”