Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a critical global health concern characterized by elevated rates of both morbidity and mortality. The pathological and physiological changes after TBI are closely related to microglia. Microglia, the primary immune cells in the brain, are closely linked to the mechanisms and treatment of TBI. With increasing research in this area, this study employs bibliometric analysis to identify current research hotspots and predict future trends.
We decided to perform a bibliometric analysis to provide a comprehensive overview of the advancements in microglia research related to traumatic brain injury. We aim to offer researchers insights into current trends and future research directions.
We collected all articles and reviews related to microglia and traumatic brain injury published between 2000 and 2023 from the Web of Science Core Collection. These records were analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the R package “bibliometrix”.
We retrieved 665 publications from 25 countries, with the majority contributed by the United States and China. The number of publications on traumatic brain injury and microglia has been steadily increasing each year. Our analysis highlighted the
In recent years, research on TBI-related microglia has proliferated, with current studies primarily focusing on microglial involvement in neuroinflammation, neurodegenerative changes, and microglial polarization following TBI. Since neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration are two hallmark features of TBI, targeting microglia in TBI treatment may become a central focus for future research.