This study systematically delineates the research landscape and evolving frontiers of the field of systemic lupus erythematosus and macrophages from 2016 to 2025 using bibliometric analysis.
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Artykuł badawczy
This study systematically delineates the research landscape and evolving frontiers of the field of systemic lupus erythematosus and macrophages from 2016 to 2025 using bibliometric analysis.
This study systematically analyzed 1,197 articles on the role of macrophages in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) published from 2016 to 2025 using bibliometric methods based on the Web of Science Core Collection. The analysis examined publication trends, collaborative networks, research themes, and the knowledge base to elucidate the current research landscape, core research forces, and frontier evolution in this field. The number of publications peaked at 154 in 2022, while annual citations increased overall from 184 in 2016 to 9,030 in 2025, indicating active and impactful research. China ranked first in publication volume (379 articles), whereas the United States led in total citations (18,838) and international collaboration centrality. Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Karolinska Institutet were the most productive institutions, with 23 articles each. Frontiers in Immunology (impact factor = 5.9; Journal Citation Reports quartile 1) was the most productive journal. Keyword timeline clustering identified 13 major research themes, including key components of innate immunity such as neutrophil extracellular traps, dendritic cells, and Toll-like receptors, as well as adaptive immunity involving T cells, B cells, and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. These themes also included core mechanisms such as macrophage polarization, the NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, and apoptotic cell clearance, along with clinical hotspots such as lupus nephritis, macrophage activation syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis. The evolution of research hotspots reflects a progression from early basic mechanisms of apoptotic cell and immune complex clearance to refined regulation of cytokines, innate immunity, and adaptive immunity, and finally to studies of signaling pathway-targeted therapy, clinical management, and multicenter validation, with “pathway” and “multicenter diagnosis” standing out as current research frontiers.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies, immune complex deposition, and multi-organ inflammation1,2. Despite substantial advances in diagnostic approaches and therapeutic strategies over recent decades, SLE continues to cause severe damage to the kidneys, hematological system, and central nervous system3,4,5. Existing treatments, including glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants, and biologic agents, generally have limited therapeutic efficacy and are associated with adverse effects to varying degrees6,7,8. Cell engineering strategies, such as chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy, have shown the potential to achieve durable drug-free remission in SLE through deep depletion of autoreactive B cells9,10,11. As key members of the innate immune system, macrophages perform crucial functions in immune complex clearance, efferocytosis of apoptotic cells, and cytokine secretion, thereby maintaining immune homeostasis11,12. Accumulating evidence indicates that multiple forms of macrophage dysfunction are implicated in SLE pathogenesis13,14,15. Dysregulated macrophage polarization into proinflammatory M1 versus anti-inflammatory M2 phenotypes has been consistently observed in lupus nephritis, where M1 macrophages promote tissue damage while M2 macrophages contribute to tissue repair as well as fibrotic remodeling16,17. Excessive formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and aberrant activation of interferon signaling pathways further amplify macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses18,19,20. Consequently, macrophage dysfunction has emerged not only as a central node in SLE pathogenesis but also as a promising therapeutic target21.
The past decade has witnessed a rapid expansion of publications focusing on the role of macrophages in SLE, spanning diverse research directions, including efferocytosis, NETosis, macrophage polarization, metabolic reprogramming, and targeted modulation of signaling pathways22,23,24,25,26. However, the burgeoning literature also brings challenges, including fragmented research themes, unclear identification of core research forces, and ambiguous mapping of frontier evolution, underscoring the urgent need for a systematic overview of the current research landscape. Bibliometrics employs mathematical and statistical methods to quantitatively analyze the distributional characteristics and evolutionary patterns of knowledge carriers, providing objective data on publication trends, collaborative networks, research hotspots, and frontier dynamics27,28,29,30,31. While bibliometric approaches have been successfully applied to knowledge mapping in SLE immunotherapy, biomarker discovery, and related fields, bibliometric mapping focused specifically on macrophages in SLE remains limited32,33,34. This study retrieves relevant literature from the Web of Science Core Collection database spanning 2016 to 2025 and employs CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Scimago Graphica to conduct multidimensional visual analyses. By examining publication outputs, country/region and institutional collaborations, author and journal networks, keyword co-occurrence and timeline clustering, as well as citation burst detection, this study aims to systematically elucidate the current research status, core research forces, thematic evolution, and emerging frontiers in the field of macrophages in SLE, thereby providing an objective knowledge map and directional reference for future investigations.
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No ethical approval or informed consent was required for this study, as all data were derived from publicly available bibliographic records in the Web of Science Core Collection database. No human participants, animals, or clinical samples were involved in this research.
Data acquisition and search strategy
Data were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database on a single date (April 27, 2026) to ensure data consistency and reproducibility. The search query employed Boolean operators with the following structure: TS=("Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic" OR "Systemic Lupus Erythematosus" OR "Lupus Erythematosus Disseminatus") AND TS=("macrophage*"). Document types were restricted to articles and review articles. The publication period ranged from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2025. A total of 1,197 valid papers were retained for subsequent bibliometric analysis.
Analytical tools
An analytical pipeline incorporating multiple software packages was used. CiteSpace (Research Resource Identifier [RRID]: SCR_020932) was used for keyword timeline clustering and citation burst analysis35. VOSviewer (RRID: SCR_016598) was used to construct and visualize coauthorship networks for countries/regions, institutions, and authors, and to generate keyword co-occurrence maps36. Scimago Graphica was used to generate country/region collaboration network visualizations from network files exported from VOSviewer37. Basic statistical calculations and figure preparation were performed using WPS Excel and GraphPad Prism (RRID: SCR_002798). The overall bibliometric workflow is illustrated in Figure 1.
Parameter configuration in CiteSpace and VOSviewer
In CiteSpace, the time slice was set from 2016 to 2025 with 1-year intervals. The g-index (k = 10) was selected as the node selection threshold. The Pathfinder pruning algorithm was applied twice: first to simplify each individual time slice network, and again after merging all slices to reduce visual complexity. In VOSviewer, the LinLog/modularity algorithm was chosen for network layout optimization. Node sizes were weighted by document counts or citation frequencies, depending on the specific analysis. For country/region collaboration mapping using Scimago Graphica, node diameters reflected publication volumes, and link thickness represented collaboration intensities between countries.
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Roczna liczba publikacji
W latach 2016–2025 opublikowano łącznie 1197 artykułów na temat makrofagów w SLE. Roczna liczba publikacji ulegała wahaniom, zaczynając od 112 w 2016 roku, osiągając szczyt na poziomie 154 w 2022 roku, a następnie nieznacznie spadając do 133 w 2025 roku. W tym samym okresie całkowita roczna liczba cytowań wzrosła z 184 do 9030, z niewielkimi wahaniami, co wskazuje na stopniowy wzrost wpływu akademickiego w tej dziedzinie (Rysunek 2...
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This bibliometric study systematically delineates the research landscape of macrophages in SLE over the past decade (2016–2025). By analyzing 1,197 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection, we identified global publication trends, collaborative networks, core research forces, thematic evolution, and knowledge base dynamics, thereby providing an objective roadmap for future investigations in this rapidly evolving field.
Over the 10-year study period, annual publications on mac...
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The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. No AI-assisted tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript, including data analysis, figure generation, or writing.
This work was supported by the Excellence & Innovation Initiative of China-Japan Friendship Hospital (Grant No. ZRZC2025-KCC02), the National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding (Grant No. 2025-NHLHCRF-JBGS-B-WZ-15), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82400846), the Major New Drug Innovation Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2017ZX09301001), and the Russian National Science Foundation Foreign Top Scientists Program (Grant No. 257431017).
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| Nazwa | Firma | Numer katalogowy | Komentarze |
|---|---|---|---|
| CiteSpace (version 6.4.R1) | Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA | N/A | Keyword timeline clustering and citation burst analysis; RRID: SCR_020932; URL: https://citespace.podia.com |
| GraphPad Prism (version 10.1) | Dotmatics, Boston, MA, USA | N/A | Figure preparation and data visualization; RRID: SCR_002798; URL: https://www.graphpad.com |
| Scimago Graphica (version 1.0.25) | Scimago Lab, Madrid, Spain | N/A | Country/region collaboration network visualization; RRID: not available; URL: https://www.graphica.app |
| VOSviewer (version 1.6.19) | Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands | N/A | Coauthorship network construction and keyword co-occurrence mapping; RRID: SCR_016598; URL: https://www.vosviewer.com |
| Web of Science Core Collection | Clarivate Analytics, Philadelphia, PA, USA | N/A | Literature retrieval and data source; URL: https://clarivate.com/webofscience |
| WPS Excel (2023) | Kingsoft, Zhuhai, China | N/A | Basic statistical calculations and bar, line, and pie charts; RRID: not available; URL: https://www.wps.com |
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