This bibliometric analysis used CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Scimago Graphica to evaluate publication trends, collaboration networks, and emerging research hotspots in T-lymphocyte metabolic reprogramming research from 2016 to 2025.
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Research Article
* These authors contributed equally
This bibliometric analysis used CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Scimago Graphica to evaluate publication trends, collaboration networks, and emerging research hotspots in T-lymphocyte metabolic reprogramming research from 2016 to 2025.
T lymphocytes are central regulators of immune responses, and recent studies have shown that metabolic processes influence T-lymphocyte activation, differentiation, and effector function in cancer and autoimmune diseases. This study performed a bibliometric analysis of publications from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2025, retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. CiteSpace was used for co-occurrence, co-citation, and clustering analyses of references and keywords. VOSviewer was applied to analyze journals, authors, references, countries, and institutions, while Scimago Graphica visualized national collaboration networks and Excel was used to evaluate annual publication trends. A total of 1,882 publications were included. Annual publication output increased steadily, with notable growth observed in 2021 and 2025. China contributed the highest publication volume, whereas the United States demonstrated greater citation impact. Frontiers in Immunology was the most productive journal, while Nature showed the highest citation influence. Keyword clustering and citation analyses identified evolving research hotspots focused on T-lymphocyte metabolic reprogramming, glucose and amino acid metabolism, and emerging interest in immune-cell metabolic interactions. Overall, this bibliometric analysis demonstrates continued expansion of research in T-lymphocyte immunometabolism and highlights emerging thematic directions, including intercellular metabolic regulation and lipid metabolism.
Naïve T lymphocytes primarily rely on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to maintain their quiescent and low-energy metabolic state1. Upon antigen stimulation, however, activated T lymphocytes undergo a metabolic shift toward aerobic glycolysis to support rapid proliferation and effector function2. Effector T lymphocytes, particularly cytotoxic subsets, depend on glycolysis to meet the increased bioenergetic and biosynthetic demands associated with cytokine production and cellular expansion3. Although glycolysis produces less adenosine triphosphate (ATP) per glucose molecule tha....
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This study exclusively analyzed bibliographic data retrieved from publicly accessible databases and did not involve human participants, animals, or identifiable personal data; therefore, institutional ethics approval and informed consent were not required.
Data Collection and Search Strategy
Data were extracted from the WoSCC (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/) on January 27, 2026. The database editions selected were the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) and Social Sciences Citation Index within WoSCC. The search was conducted using the Advanced Search interface. The search strategy was applied in the....
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Publication Output and Temporal Trends
To characterize the temporal evolution of research activity in this field, a bibliometric analysis was performed using publications indexed in the WoSCC. A total of 1,991 records were initially retrieved over the past decade. After removal of duplicate and non-English records, 1,882 publications were ultimately included and analyzed, including 1,046 original research articles and 836 review articles. Annual publication and citation trends from 2016 to 2025 are p.......
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Our bibliometric analysis of metabolic reprogramming in T cells revealed a sustained increase in research output over time. A noticeable increase in publication and citation counts occurred in 2020, with 40 additional publications and 1,989 additional citations compared with 2019. This increase coincided temporally with several highly cited publications, including Glutamine blockade induces divergent metabolic programs to overcome tumor immune evasion (published November 22, 2019)18, whic.......
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Conflicts of Interest:
The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this work.
Author contrubutions:
Data collection and literature retrieval were performed by Yi Liu. Data preprocessing and bibliometric analyses were conducted by Yinping Yang. Visualization and figure preparation were performed by Xinyue Yang and Jinquan Li. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yi Liu and Weihong Li. All authors contributed to manuscript revision and approved the final submitted version.
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2022-JYB-JBZR-037).
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| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| CiteSpace | Drexel University | v.5.7.R2 | SCR_025121 |
| Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Corporation | v.2604 Build 16.0.19929.20136 | SCR_016137 (Microsoft Excel) |
| WPS Excel | Kingsoft Office | v.12.1.0.26375 | |
| Scimago Graphica | Scimago Lab | v.1.0.53 | Not available |
| VOSviewer | Leiden University | v.1.6.20 | SCR_023516 |
| Web of Science Core Collection | Clarivate Analytics | accessed on January 27, 2026; version not applicable | Not available |
| Windows Operating System | Microsoft Corporation | Windows 10 | Not available |
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