Global Scientific Output Trend for Akkermansia muciniphila Research: A Bibliometric and Scientometric Analysis

Abstract

Background Akkermansia muciniphila is an anaerobic bacterium residing in the healthy intestinal tract of host and its quantity has a negative correlation with various host diseases. This study for the first time provides a holistic bibliometric aspect of Akkermansia research in the literature and shows the hot topic terms of these articles in any period of time. Methods Scopus database was selected to retrieve documents relevant to Akkermansia in any language up to 2018. The bibliometric profile of Akkermansia articles including subject area, year distribution, citations, institutions, journals, authors, and countries was systematically characterized and the collaboration networks of authors and countries as well as the burst detection algorithm of the words in the titles, abstracts and keywords were visualized. Results There is a progressive growing trend in research on Akkermansia from 2004 to 2018 with a total of 668 articles during this period. Out of 518 original articles, there are 301 animal studies (222 studies on mice) and 150 human studies. Also, 65 various diseases were investigated in these studies. The most focused conditions are obesity (71 articles) and type2 diabetes (39 articles). The United States is the leading country on Akkermansia publications (n=184), followed by China (n=156). PLoS ONE is the most dominant journal with 34 Akkermansia publications. In addition, “cancer” is the hot topic of recent Akkermansia research. Conclusion Akkermansia research is of progressive interest during the last decade and the studies on this subject move towards its relationship with cancer and its promising effect on health.