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REVIEW article
Front. Genet.
Sec. Applied Genetic Epidemiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1524360
"Bibliometric Analysis of Case-Control Studies on the Association Between HLA Alleles and Multiple Sclerosis in Adults"
Provisionally accepted
Enola Maer 1,2,3
Marjorie Maya Hubacher 1
Livia Popa 1,2* Dana Marieta Fodor 1,2
Razvan Mircea Chereches 4
Dafin F Muresanu 1,2 Vitalie Vacaras 1 Maria Chiriac 5 Horea Vladi Matei 1,6 Draghici Nicu 1,2
Adrian Florea 1,6- 1 University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iuliu Hatieganu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- 2 RoNeuro Institute for Neurological Research and Diagnostics, Cluj Napoca, Cluj, Romania
- 3 Karolinska Institutet (KI), Solna, Stockholm, Sweden
- 4 Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania
- 5 County Emergency Hospital Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania
- 6 Department of Molecular Sciences, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system(CNS) with genetic and environmental factors playing a significant role in its development and progression. One of the most important genetic factors associated with MS is the HLA gene complex. The relationship between HLA and MS has been the subject of numerous studies, but no bibliometric analysis of this research has been reported to date. Therefore, this study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the publication output, citation impact, collaboration patterns, and research topics related to HLA and MS.Methods: A bibliometric analysis of 488 studies published between 1988 and 2023 was conducted using RStudio, Tableau and VOSviewer software.The results indicated an increasing trend in the number of publications and citations over time, with the highest productivity and impact coming from researchers in the United States, Italy and Sweden. The analysis also revealed collaboration networks among researchers and institutions, with the most common research topics being the association of HLA alleles with MS susceptibility, disease course, and treatment response. This study's limitations stem from the inherent biases associated with bibliometric analysis, including database and coverage bias, citation bias, and biases related to accessibility and open access. Additionally, the exclusion of non-English language articles represents a further limitation.Overall, this bibliometric analysis provides valuable insight into the research landscape of HLA and MS, highlighting the areas that have received the most attention and identifying potential avenues for future research.
Keywords: HLA, Multiple Sclerosis, MS, bibliometric analysis, HLA-DRB1, genetic susceptibility Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt Formatted: Caption, Keep with next Formatted Table
Received: 07 Nov 2024; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Maer, Hubacher, Popa, Fodor, Chereches, Muresanu, Vacaras, Chiriac, Matei, Nicu and Florea. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Livia Popa, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iuliu Hatieganu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.