Abstract
Mucosal associated invariant T cells (MAIT cells) are a group of
evolutionarily conserved and unconventional innate-like T cell subsets.
Since first defined in 2003, it has been found to be involved in
physiological and pathological process. The study is aimed to explore
the research content, present hotspots and future trends of MAIT cells
through bibliometric approach. The publication was searched using Web of
Science Core Collection database (WoSCC). The bibliometrix package in R
was used for data extraction and quantitative analysis of bibliometrics
and scientometrics. A cloud plot was generated to display the hotspots
of WoSCC keywords in MAIT cell researches. Thematic analysis and trend
topics map were conducted to appraise the maturity and development trend
of topics in MAIT cell studies. The collaboration network, including
author collaboration and affiliation collaboration, were visualized by
using VOSviewer. A total of 1041 related publications obtained from
WoSCC were analyzed. It is found that nearly 10 years researches on MAIT
cells surging with the US being the major producer. The groups of James
McCluskey and Jamie Rossjohn contributed most to the research of MAIT
cells. “Frontiers in Immunology” and “Journal of Immunology” were
the most prolific. Activation and function are the hotspots of the
researches of MAIT cells. Applying advanced sequencing technology to
explore the interaction of MAIT cells with microbiota in diseases may be
the research trend.The bibliometric analysis provides novel and useful
data for the MAIT research scientific community, which was conducive to
elucidating MAIT cells more effectively and intuitively.