Global hotspots and research trends of gut microbiota in sleep disorders: a bibliometric analysis (2011-2024)

Abstract Background: The close connection between gut microbiota and sleep disorders has been confirmed, and research on this topic has increased significantly. However, the overall research trends in this field are unclear. This study aims to assess the status of research on gut microbiota and sleep disorders from a bibliometric analysis perspective and predict future research directions and emerging trends. Method: A systematic search in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2011 to 2024 identified 764 publications. The search terms were “sleep disorders” and “gut microbiota”. Data were analyzed using VOSviewer (version 1.6.17), CiteSpace (version 6.4), Excel (version 16.94), and an online bibliometric platform. Results: From 2011 to 2024, 764 publications on gut microbiota and sleep disorders were identified, showing a steady increase. China (326; 42.67%) was the country with the most publications. The journal Nutrients (42; 5.50%) published the highest number of publications. Zixu Wang (14; h-index = 23) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (17; 2.23%) were respectively the most productive author and the most prolific institution in this field. The high-frequency keywords were clustered into five thematic areas: cognitive-related topics, psychological and gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic diseases, metabolism and neurodegenerative diseases, and sleep-related topics. Among them, “gut microbiota” (309), “sleep” (133), and “inflammation” (108) were the most researched keywords in the field of gut microbiota and sleep disorders. “Neurodegenerative diseases” and “sleep disorder” were the keywords with the strongest citation bursts from 2022 to 2024. Conclusion: This article provided a bibliometric analysis to systematically summarize the relationship between the gut microbiota and sleep disorders from 2011 to 2024? providing a reference for identifying research trends, key hotspots, and gaps in this field.