Relevance of the Microbiota on Ocular Diseases: A Bibliometric and Citation Network Analysis

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to analyze the relevance of different publications about microbiota on ocular diseases and their authors through a citation network analysis. In addition, the different research areas and the most cited publications have been identified. Methods: The bibliographic search was carried out through the Web of Science (WOS) database, using the following search term: “microbiota AND (vision OR eye OR visual)” for the period between 1995 and December 2022. The Citation Network Explorer and the CiteSpace software have been used to analyze the different publications. Results: 705 publications were found in the field of microbiota on ocular diseases, together with 1014 citation networks. The year 2022 was the year with more publications. The first authors with the highest number of publications in the microbiota on the ocular surface field were Chisari G, Chisari CG, and Li Y. This field is multidisciplinary, highlighting “microbiology” and “ophthalmology” as the main research areas. Publications were clustered into three main groups allowing the identification of the main research topics in this field. The principal was the composition and diversity of the bacterial community on the ocular surface of patients with several pathologies. Conclusion: It could be useful for researchers to choose suitable collaborators or projects to promote their research on the role of microbiota on ocular diseases, as well as to know the main research topics that are of major interest today.