A bibliometric analysis of liver disease research articles published by Chinese mainland authors in Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded / 临床肝胆病杂志

Objective To investigate the articles on liver diseases published by authors from China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions) in Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) in 2016-2020, to analyze the bibliographic and citation data of these articles, and to understand the contribution and impact of Chinese scholars in the field of liver disease research in recent years. Methods The data for bibliometric analysis came from the SCIE database and Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The SCIE database was searched for the journal articles published in JCR Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals in 2016-2020, with a title or abstract containing "Liver", "Hepatocellular", "Hepatitis", "Cirrhosis", or "Hepatic" and a publication type of Article. Clinical guidelines were excluded, and the records with the corresponding author's affiliation containing institutions in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions) were screened out. R package bibliometrix was used to calculate the frequency of citations of included articles by liver disease studies published by Chinese and global authors in the Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals in 2016-2020, and R package DescTools was used to perform the Cochran-Armitage trend test to observe the change in composition ratio. Results In the Q1 Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals in 2016-2020, liver disease studies published by Chinese authors accounted for 9.5%. In recent years, the proportion of liver disease studies published by Chinese authors in Q1 Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals continues to increase from 6.0% to 12.2% ( P < 0.001). Among the liver disease studies published by Chinese authors in Q1 Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals, 79.7% were funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, and there was no significant change in the proportion of studies funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China and published by Chinese authors in each partition of Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals in 2016-2020. The frequency of citations of included articles by liver disease studies published by Chinese and global authors in the Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals showed that liver disease studies published by Chinese authors had a high impact in both domestic and international academic communities. Conclusion In recent years, there has been a constant increase in the number of liver disease studies published by Chinese authors in high-impact Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals indexed in SCIE, and most of these studies have been funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China. The liver disease studies published by Chinese authors in Gastroenterology & Hepatology journals have been widely recognized by domestic and international academic communities.

Value of red blood cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in predicting compensated liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the value of red blood cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio (RPR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in predicting chronic hepatitis C (CHC)-related compensated liver cirrhosis by comparing serological markers between CHC patients and patients with compensated hepatitis C cirrhosis. MethodsThe patients with CHC in two townships of Fuyu County were screened for liver cirrhosis and liver cancer from September to December in 2019 and 2020, respectively. General information was collected; HCV RNA quantification, liver function, and routine blood test results were measured; liver transient elastography and abdominal ultrasound were performed at the same time. RPR, PLR, NLR, fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) were calculated. The Mann-Whiney U test was used for comparison between groups. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to determine the optimal cut-off values of RPR and PLR. A multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors for CHC-related liver cirrhosis. The linear regression trend test was used to investigate the changing trend of RPR, PLR, FIB-4, and APRI in hepatitis C patients with different fibrosis stages. ResultsA total of 968 CHC patients were enrolled, among whom 123 (12.7%) were diagnosed with compensated liver cirrhosis (liver cirrhosis group). Compared with the CHC group, the liver cirrhosis group had a significant increase in RPR and a significant reduction in PLR (P＜0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age ＞60 years (odds ratio ［OR］=1.79, 95% confidence interval ［CI］: 1.12-2.86, P=0.015), albumin ＜40 g/L (OR=1040, 95% CI: 3.47-31.18, P＜0.001), RPR ＞0.081 (OR=3.83, 95% CI: 2.19-6.69, P＜0.001), PLR ＜91.11 (OR=225, 95% CI: 1.31-3.89, P=0.004), FIB-4 ＞3.25 (OR=3.14, 95% CI: 1.74-5.67, P＜0.001), and APRI ＞2 (OR=360, 95% CI: 110-11.78, P=0.035) were associated with the development of CHC-related compensated liver cirrhosis. With the aggravation of liver fibrosis, RPR, FIB-4, and APRI gradually increased and PLR gradually decreased (all P＜0.001). ConclusionRPR and PLR are associated with the development and fibrosis progression of CHC-related compensated liver cirrhosis. Elderly patients with CHC (age ＞60 years) should be monitored for the changes in albumin and liver fibrosis indicators, and RPR and PLR should also be monitored regularly to identify liver cirrhosis in the early stage, give timely treatment, and reduce the incidence rate of liver cancer.