Bibliometric analysis maps research hotspots in cardiovascular glycosylation

Researchers from Peking University Third Hospital, Peking University First Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences have published a bibliometric analysis in Health Data Science mapping research on glycosylation in cardiovascular diseases. The analysis indicates steady growth in the field, with O-GlcNAcylation among its prominent research hotspots.

Glycosylation is an important posttranslational protein modification and has been linked to cardiovascular processes including heart failure, cardiac hypertrophy, diabetes-related cardiac injury, and atherosclerosis. The authors note that, alongside narrative reviews, a reproducible bibliometric overview is needed to characterize the field's publication patterns, collaborations, and changing themes.

The team retrieved 1,441 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection, published between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2024. They conducted visual and descriptive analyses of publication trends, countries and regions, institutions, keywords, and references. The United States was the most productive country or region, followed by China, while the University of Alabama at Birmingham made a notable contribution. Identified hotspots included O-GlcNAcylation, biomarkers, angiogenesis, alpha-dystroglycan, potassium channels, heart failure, gene expression, glycosylation, and cardiac glycosides.

The study offers an objective field map that may help researchers identify priorities and potential collaborations. As a database-based bibliometric analysis, it describes patterns and relationships in the retrieved literature; it does not directly establish biological mechanisms or clinical effects of glycosylation-targeted interventions.