[Evolution of Research Related to Macrophage Polarization in Atherosclerosis:A Visualization Analysis]

Objective To explore the research status,hotspots,and development tendency of macrophage polarization (MP) in atherosclerosis (AS) by systematically reviewing and visually analyzing the articles published recently in this field,so as to provide new ideas for the basic research and translational research on MP in the prevention and treatment of AS.Methods SCI-Expanded was used as the data source for the retrieval of the articles involving MP in AS from 2012 to 2022.CiteSpace 6.1.R3 was employed to visualize the node information of the publishing country/region,institutions,authors,keywords,and citations.Results A total of 381 papers were included.The number of publications in the world showed an increasing trend year by year.China and the United States were leading this field in the number and centrality of publications,and Shandong University in China contributed the largest number of publications.The analysis of the key words and citations showed that the hotspots and frontiers in this field mainly included the pathogenesis of AS,MP markers,macrophage plasticity regulation,and potential therapeutic targets for AS.Conclusions The research on MP in AS was booming during 2012-2022.The differential gene expression and the molecular mechanism of targeted therapy of MP in AS are the research trends in this field,which will provide new measures for the prevention and treatment of AS.