Current perspectives and trends of lipid metabolism in chronic kidney diseases: a bibliometric analysis

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at an increased risk of lipid perturbation. A diminished capacity of kidney β-oxidation results in fatty acid accumulation, which drives CKD progression. Based on the publications in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) from 1999 to 2023, this study conducted a bibliometric analysis of this field, aiming to understand its development trend and frontier and provide basic information and potential points for in-depth exploration. All articles on lipid metabolism in CKD published between January 1, 1999, and October 10, 2023, were collected and identified in WoSCC. Bibliometric analysis was performed using Excel 2019, CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and the Bibliometricsx R package (R-Studio). A total of 1,201 articles in WoSCC met our criteria. Analysis results show that the number of publications and citations in this field has been increasing annually. The University of California, Irvine of the United States is the institution with the highest number of citations, and total link strength. Nosratola D. Vaziri is one of the most important scholars in this field, and Kidney International is the most authoritative journal. Keywords and references analysis indicate that dysregulation of lipid perturbation contributes to the progression of CKD. Inflammation and ferroptosis play a key role in regulating lipid metabolism. Furthermore, lipidomics is the principal tool for dissecting dysregulated lipid metabolism. This study revealed trends in research and public interest in lipid metabolism in CKD. Our findings suggest that the field is growing rapidly, and future research hot spots might focus on deeper exploration of the molecular mechanism, application of metabolomics, and clinical therapy, which may pave the way for further research.