Global research trends on diet and nutrition in Crohn's disease

BACKGROUND Crohn's disease represents a challenge for patients concerned with the modified diet regimen as well as practitioners who seek the best nutritional therapy. Crohn's disease can alter the body's ability to digest food and to absorb nutrients, resulting in severe vitamin deficiencies, malnutrition and sometimes life-threatening complications. However, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis is lacking to map the current links between nutrition and Crohn's disease in terms of the number of citations, geographic distribution and growth trends of publications. AIM To introduce the current state of research as well as hotspots in the field of nutrition and Crohn's disease from a bibliometric standpoint. METHODS We searched the Scopus database and selected the relevant literature on nutrition and Crohn's disease that met the inclusion criteria. We analyzed the publication trends and research hotspots by using video object segmentation viewer software. RESULTS We included 1237 publications. The number of documents published each year has increased steadily. The United States and the University of Otago, Christchurch, have had the highest productivity, with 208 (16.81%) and 29 (2.34%) documents, respectively. The role of exclusive enteral nutrition for complicated Crohn's disease and manipulation of the gut microbiota as a key target for Crohn's disease were the major research areas in 2016-2021, and they could be extensively investigated in the future. Meanwhile, research on malnutrition in patients with Crohn's disease appeared to be an area that attracted more research attention before 2016. CONCLUSION This is the first bibliometric analysis to map the knowledge structure and trends regarding nutrition in Crohn's disease research over the past two decades. The results provide a comprehensive summary and identification of the frontiers of nutrition and Crohn's disease-related research, which may be used as a resource by researchers in the field. (c) The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study utilizes bibliometric analysis to examine the knowledge structure and trends in nutrition and Crohn's disease research over the past two decades. The findings reveal that current research hotspots include exclusive enteral nutrition for complicated Crohn's disease and manipulation of the gut microbiota, which are expected to be further investigated in the future. Additionally, research on malnutrition in patients with Crohn's disease has attracted significant attention in previous years.