Exploration of scientific insight of gut-brain axis research trends through computational investigation

The gut-brain axis, a vital bidirectional communication system between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract, is crucial for maintaining homeostasis. Dysregulation of this axis, influenced by factors like gut microbiota, neurotransmitters, and dietary patterns, is associated with various health conditions. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of gut-brain axis (GBA) research. This study utilizes co-word cluster network analysis on 16062 publications from the Web of Science database to understand the thematic evolution of gut-brain axis studies. The top 20 countries, organizations, authors, journals and WoS micro topics were identified along with their publication impact in terms of average citation and h-index, were also analysed using the Bibliometrix-Biblioshiny package in R software. The findings show significant growth in publications that indicates the increasing importance of gut-brain axis research. Thematic analysis reveals a shift from microbiota characterization to metabolic, immune, and neuroinflammatory pathways, emphasizing translational applications such as probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). The increasing focus on neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of GBA research, spanning neuroscience, microbiology, and immunology.