This bibliometric analysis delineates the landscape of mitochondrial research in diabetic nephropathy (DN) and summarizes major thematic changes and emerging topics.
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Research Article
* These authors contributed equally
This bibliometric analysis delineates the landscape of mitochondrial research in diabetic nephropathy (DN) and summarizes major thematic changes and emerging topics.
This bibliometric study systematically maps the global landscape of mitochondrial research in DN from 2016 to 2025. To maintain consistency with the study title and search focus, DN is used as the primary term, whereas diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is retained only when describing search terms, screening criteria, or original author keywords. A total of 1,342 publications were retrieved from the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) within the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and analyzed using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Scimago Graphica. Annual publication output increased nearly fourfold from 63 in 2016 to 239 in 2025, and dataset-level citation visibility also increased. China led in publication volume, whereas Australia and the United States showed higher average citations per paper, indicating a divergence between output and citation-based visibility. Central South University ranked first in institutional output and total citations among the institutions shown, but its collaboration connectivity was lower than that of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Zhejiang University. Keyword and reference analyses showed a temporal expansion from high-glucose-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis to mitophagy, ferroptosis, mitochondrial dynamics, mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes (MAMs), and the NLRP3 inflammasome. Intervention-related and methodology-related topics, including SGLT2 inhibitors, MitoQ, caloric restriction, Mendelian randomization, and metabolomics, were also identified. Overall, mitochondrial research in DN has broadened toward mitochondrial quality control, regulated cell death, multi-omics approaches, and intervention-related topics. These bibliometric patterns indicate topic prominence and citation visibility rather than direct mechanistic or clinical evidence and may help identify directions requiring further validation.
DN is one of the most severe microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus and a leading cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide1,2. Despite substantial progress in glucose control, blood pressure management, and renin-angiotensin system blockade, the incidence of DN continues to rise, and a considerable proportion of patients still progress to irreversible renal failure3. This unmet clinical need has driven an intense search for novel pathophysiological mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Mitochondria serve as central hubs of cellular energy metabolism, redox homeostasis, and apo....
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Data acquisition and search strategy
All bibliometric records were retrieved from the SCI-EXPANDED and SSCI within the WoSCC on April 30, 2026. SCI-EXPANDED was used to capture biomedical and life-science literature, while SSCI was retained to include potentially relevant interdisciplinary records. The search strategy was constructed with reference to the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database. “Diabetic Nephropathies” and “Mitochondria” were searched separately in MeSH, and the corresponding MeSH terms, entry terms, and related subheadings were reviewed to guide keyword selection and synonym expan....
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Annual publication trends and dataset-level citation visibility
From 2016 to 2025, the annual number of publications on mitochondrial research in DN increased from 63 to 239. Dataset-level annual Times Cited counts for the fixed dataset increased from 49 in 2016 to 12,516 in 2025. This metric represents citations received in each calendar year by all included records, rather than same-year citations to annual publication cohorts or field-wide citation totals. Because this cita.......
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This bibliometric study provides a systematic overview of the global research landscape and thematic evolution of mitochondrial research in DN from 2016 to 2025. The results show that research activity in this field increased over the past decade, particularly after 2021. During this period, the research focus gradually expanded from oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction to mitochondrial quality control, metabolic adaptation, regulated cell death, organelle interactions, and translationally oriented therapeutic .......
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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web of Science Core Collection | Clarivate | https://www.webofscience.com/ | Not applicable |
| VOSviewer | Leiden University | https://www.vosviewer.com/ | 1.6.19 |
| CiteSpace | Drexel University | https://citespace.podia.com/ | 6.4.R1 |
| Scimago Graphica | Scimago Laboratory | https://www.scimagographica.org/ | 1.0.25 |
| WPS Excel | Kingsoft Corporation | https://www.wps.com/ | 2023 |
| GraphPad Prism | GraphPad Software | https://www.graphpad.com/ | 10.1 |
| Journal Citation Reports | Clarivate | https://jcr.clarivate.com/ | Not applicable |
| Medical Subject Headings database | National Library of Medicine | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/ | Not applicable |
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