The global state of research in stem cells therapy for spinal cord injury (2003–2022): a visualized analysis

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2024 · DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1323383 · Published: January 24, 2024

Spinal Cord Injury Regenerative Medicine Neurology

Simple Explanation

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) can cause permanent sensorimotor and autonomic dysfunction, seriously affecting a patient’s autonomous activities and quality of life. Due to its ability to remyelinate denuded axons, modulate the inflammatory response, restore damaged neuronal circuits, and provide trophic support, cellular transplantation as a regenerative therapy for spinal cord injuries has attracted a lot of attention in recent decades Stem cells have been shown to enhance SCI recovery in clinical trials, while clinical translation of stem cell therapy is still difficult.

Study Duration

20 Years

Participants

Not specified

Evidence Level

Review

Key Findings

1
The USA and China made the highest contributions to global research with the highest number of citations and link strength.
2
The journal Experimental Neurology ranks as the top journal, combining the publication amount and bibliometrics results.
3
The University of Toronto, based in Canada, was the first-ranking institution.

Research Summary

In this study, we used a combination of bibliometric and visualized analyses to generate a representation of the current state of stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury. China has the highest number of publications and the second total citation frequency, while the USA has a smaller amount of literature, and the total citation frequency is almost twice that of China. Particularly, the Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine and Neurosciences Mechanism Research studies, involving stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury, are the next popular hot spots.

Practical Implications

Research Trends

Continued growth in publication numbers indicates increasing scholarly attention. New technologies like spatiotemporal epidural electrical stimulation and brain-spine interfaces may divert research interests.

Global Publication Quality

The USA and China lead in research quantity and academic impact, with extensive cooperation. Increased Chinese research funding should further improve publication quality.

Future Directions

Future research should focus on Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine and Neurosciences Mechanism Research clusters, exploring stem cell response mechanisms and transplantation techniques.

Study Limitations

1
English language articles and reviews were included based on the SCIE database of WOS. Non-English language literature could have been omitted, leading to language bias.
2
Differences may exist between the real world and the present results.
3
Therefore, we still need to focus on the latest primary studies and other non-English studies in our daily research work.

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