Mapping the global research landscape and trends of autoimmune encephalitis: A bibliometric analysis

Song Ouyang; Zhenchu Tang; Weiwei Duan; Sizhi Tang; Qiuming Zeng; Wenping Gu; Miao Li; Hong Tan; Jiangying Hu; Weifan Yin

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26653

Mapping the global research landscape and trends of autoimmune encephalitis: A bibliometric analysis

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 17;10(4):e26653. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26653. eCollection 2024 Feb 29.

Authors

Song Ouyang^{1

2}, Zhenchu Tang^{3

4}, Weiwei Duan⁵, Sizhi Tang⁶, Qiuming Zeng⁵, Wenping Gu⁵, Miao Li¹, Hong Tan¹, Jiangying Hu¹, Weifan Yin³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Changsha Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
² The "Double-First Class" Application Characteristic Discipline of Hunan Province (Clinical Medicine), Changsha Medical University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
³ Department of Neurology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
⁴ Hunan Key Laboratory of Tumor Models and Individualized Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Zhuzhou Hospital Affiliated to Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Zhuzhou, Hunan, PR China.

Abstract

Background: Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is a neuroautoimmune disease featured by the presence of antibodies targeting neuronal surface, synaptic, or intracellular antigens. An increasing number of articles on its clinical manifestations, treatments, and prognosis have appeared in recent years. The objectives of this study were to summarize this growing body of literature and provide an overview of hotspots and trends in AE research using bibliometric analysis.

Methods: We retrieved AE-related articles published between 1999 and 2022 from the Web of Science Core Collection. Using bibliometric websites and software, we analyzed the data of AE research, including details about countries, institutions, authors, references, journals, and keywords.

Results: We analyzed 3348 articles, with an average of 32.83 citations per article and an H-index of 141. The USA (1091, 32.587%), China (531, 15.860%), Germany (447, 13.351%), England (266, 7.945%), and Japan (213, 6.362%) had the greatest numbers of publications. The top five institutions by numbers of publications were Oxford (143, 4.271%), the Udice French Research Universities (135, 4.032%), the University of Pennsylvania (135, 4.032%), l'Institut National de la Sante de la Recherche Medicale Inserm (113, 3.375%), and the University of Barcelona (110, 3.286%). The most productive authors were J. Dalmau (98, 2.927%), A. Vincent (65, 2.479%), H. Pruess (64, 1.912%), C. G. Bien (43, 1.284%), and F. Graus (43, 1.284%). "autoimmune encephalitis" was the most frequently used keyword (430), followed by "antibodies" (420), "NMDA receptor encephalitis" (383), and "limbic encephalitis" (368). In recent years, research hotspots have focused on the diagnosis and immunotherapy of NMDAR encephalitis and on limbic encephalitis.

Conclusion: Developed Western countries have made significant contributions to this field. China has shown a steady increase in the number of publications in recent years, but the quality and influence of these articles warrant efforts at improvement. Future directions in AE research lie in two key areas: (i) the clinical manifestations, prevalence, and prognosis of AE (enabled by advances in diagnosis); and (ii) the efficacy and safety of targeted, individualized immunotherapy.

Keywords: Autoimmune encephalitis; Bibliometric analysis; CiteSpace; Immunotherapy; VOSviewer.