Background: Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-exosomes) have been found to effectively improve the systemic inflammatory response caused by acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS), regulate systemic immune disorders, and help injured cells repair. The purpose of this study was to take a holistic view of the current status and trends of MSC-exosomes research in ALI/ARDS.
Methods: Bibliometrix, Citespace and VOSviewer software were used for bibliometric analysis of the data. We analysed the world trends, country distribution, institution contribution, most relevant journals and authors, research hotspots, and research hotspots related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on the data collected.
Results: China possessed the largest number of publications, while the USA had the highest H-index and the number of citations. Both China and the USA had a high influence in this research field. The largest number of publications in the field of MSC-exosomes and ALI/ARDS were mainly from the University of California system. Stem Cell Research & Therapy published the largest number of papers in this scope. The author with the greatest contribution was LEE JW, and ZHU YG published an article in Stem Cell with the highest local citation score. The most frequent keyword and the latest research hotspot were “NF-κB” and “Coronavirus Disease 2019”. Furthermore, our bibliometric analysis results demonstrated that MSC-exosomes intervention and treatment can effectively alleviate the inflammatory response caused by ALI/ARDS.
Conclusion: Our bibliometric study suggested the USA and China have a strong influence in this field. COVID-19-induced ALI/ARDS had become a hot topic of research.
Keywords: acute respiratory distress syndrome, mesenchymal stem cells, exosome, bibliometrix, Citespace, VOSviewer