Published online Oct 7, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i37.5339
Peer-review started: June 25, 2023
First decision: July 23, 2023
Revised: July 26, 2023
Accepted: September 4, 2023
Article in press: September 4, 2023
Published online: October 7, 2023
Processing time: 92 Days and 6.3 Hours
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic disease that threatens the lives of numerous people globally. However, there are limited bibliometric statistical analyses on NAFLD. In this study, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to examine previous research on NAFLD, aiming to identify key contributors and assess the current research status in the field of liver health. Moreover, we identified prospects for future research trends and development.
The progression of NAFLD leads to liver fibrosis and end-stage cirrhosis. However, no treatment has been established. Many mechanistic studies and drug trials have been undertaken for the development of new drugs for NAFLD treatment. In particular, NAFLD was renamed metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), and there was a major shift in treatment strategy. It is necessary to understand the knowledge structure of NAFLD through bibliometrics, focusing on research hotspots in order to explore the direction of development in this field.
The treatment of NAFLD has important research value and application prospects. It is anticipated that drugs may become available in the near future. However, no drugs are currently approved. Clinical phase 2b and phase 3 studies have achieved certain efficacy. While trends and hotspots can be clearly studied through bibliometric analysis, clues can reveal possible future therapeutic strategies for scholars in the field.
Bibliometric analysis was applied to provide a comprehensive understanding of the knowledge structure of a research field, and visualization analysis was used to visualize the results. Historiography analysis, bursts and cluster analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and trend topic analysis were also utilized to reveal the knowledge structure and research hotspots in this field.
The bibliometric study identified recent research frontiers and hotspot directions, which will provide a valuable reference for scholars researching treatments for NAFLD. The leading countries publishing NAFLD research are the United States and China. The NAFLD research field in China has developed rapidly in the past 3 years.
Research on the treatment and therapeutics of NAFLD, especially nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, is highly valued by the global academic community. It is likely that obeticholic acid, which has entered phase 3 clinical validation, and semaglutide, which is currently under study, will become the first approved drugs for the treatment of NAFLD.
The multiple-hit pathogenesis of NAFLD and the renaming of NAFLD to MAFLD requires enhanced multidisciplinary and multicenter cooperation. More clinical trials are needed to verify the safety and efficacy of drugs and to discover new ones.