Worldwide research trends on aristolochic acids (1957–2017): Suggestions for researchers

Abstract

Aristolochic acids and their derivatives are components of many traditional medicines that have been used for thousands of years, particularly in Asian countries. To study the trends of research into aristolochic acids and provide suggestions for future study, we performed the following work. In this paper, we performed a bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace and HistCite software. We reviewed the three phases of the development of aristolochic acids by using bibliometrics. In addition, we performed a longitudinal review of published review articles over 60 years: 1,217 articles and 189 review articles on the history of aristolochic acid research published between 1957 and 2017 were analyzed. The performances of relevant countries, institutions, and authors are presented; the evolutionary trends of different categories are revealed; the history of research into aristolochic acids is divided into three phases, each of which has unique characteristics; and a roadmap of the historical overview of aristolochic acid research is finally established. Finally, five pertinent suggestions for future research into aristolochic acid are offered: (1) The study of the antitumor efficacy of aristolochic acids is of value; (2) The immune activity of aristolochic acids should be explored further; (3) Researchers should perform a thorough overview of the discovery of naturally occurring aristolochic acids; (4) More efforts should be directed toward exploring the correlation between aristolochic acid mutational signature and various cancers; (5) Further efforts should be devoted to the research and review work related to analytical chemistry. Our study is expected to benefit researchers in shaping future research directions.

Systematic Overview of Aristolochic Acids: Nephrotoxicity, Carcinogenicity, and Underlying Mechanisms

“…Subsequently, Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) has also been found to be associated with the exposure to AAs. Since then, different studies have addressed the characterization and quantitation of AA analogs in plants and products, and the underlying mechanisms involved in the adverse reactions of AAs have been broadly described (Zhou et al, 2019).…”

Aristolochic acid nephropathy

“…To our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric study to analyze and quantify global research productivity related to AAN. However, it should be mentioned that Zhang et al recently published a bibliometric analysis and systematic review of global publications regarding trends in AAs, [ 3 ] whereas our study included only publications pertaining to AAN.…”

“…[ 1 , 2 ] Although botanicals that are known or suspected to contain AAs are no longer permitted in many countries, the incidence of AAN is probably much higher than initially thought, particularly in Asia. [ 3 ] In Asian countries, especially China, traditional medicines for self-medication or agricultural products sold by networks have become a trend. Owing to a similar pronunciation, AA-containing herbs are always misused for “ mutong ” or “ fangchi ,” which belong to Akebia Decne genus and Menispermaceae family, respectively.…”

Histopathological review of renal pelvic tumours of Balkan nephropathy cases from Southern Serbia

“…Unfortunately however, the studies did not include tumour histopathology. Recently published bibliographic analysis of research trends on aristolochic acids [28] has also concluded that 'there is insufficient epidemiological and animal experimental evidence to support a direct correlation between the mutational signature of AA and cancer'.…”