Structural and Temporal Dynamics of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Liver Diseases From 2001 to 2021: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have important research value and broad application prospects in liver diseases. This study aims to comprehensively review the cooperation and influence of countries, institutions, authors, and journals in the field of MSCs in liver diseases from the perspective of bibliometrics, evaluate the clustering evolution of knowledge structure, and discover hot trends and emerging topics. Methods: The articles and reviews related to MSCs in liver diseases were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using Topic Search. A bibliometric study was performed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Results: A total of 3404 articles and reviews were included over the period 2001-2021. The number of articles regarding MSCs in liver diseases showed an increasing trend. These publications mainly come from 3251 institutions in 113 countries led by China and the USA. Li L published the most papers among the publications, while Pittenger MF had the most co-citations. Analysis of the most productive journals shows that most are specialized in medical research, experimental medicine and cell biology, and cell & tissue engineering. The macroscopical sketch and micro-representation of the whole knowledge field are realized through co-citation analysis. Liver scaffold, MSC therapy, extracellular vesicle, and others are current and developing areas of the study. The keywords "machine perfusion", "liver transplantation", and "microRNAs" also may be the focus of new trends and future research. Conclusions: In this study, bibliometrics and visual methods were used to review the research of MSCs in liver diseases comprehensively. This paper will help scholars better understand the dynamic evolution of the application of MSCs in liver diseases and point out the direction for future research.

[An analysis of factors for quality-of-life in patients with chronic cough].

OBJECTIVE: To constitute a correlation with the subjective indicators by investigation of the causes and clinical features in patients with chronic cough. METHODS: Totally 100 patients with chronic cough were recruited followed a diagnostic program. Airway responsiveness [by methacholine challenge test (MCT)], Leicester cough questionnaire (LCQ), visual analogue scale (VAS), cough score, age, gender and disease duration were all recorded for analysis. RESULTS: The top five causes of chronic cough in these patients were variant asthma, post infectious cough, atopic cough, eosinophilic bronchitis and upper airway cough syndrome. LCQ total score was negatively correlated with age and the VAS score (r = -0.239 and -0.470 respectively, all P < 0.05), while no difference was found among patients with different causes of disease or gender (F = 1.233, t = 1.918, all P > 0.05) and no correlation was found with BMI (r = -0.029, P > 0.05). The physiological and psychological field score in female patients significantly reduced (t = 2.174, 1.990, P < 0.05), and LCQ total score of MCT positive patients obviously reduced than negative ones (t = -2.22, P < 0.05). After the treatment of two weeks, LCQ three component field and total score could be improved significantly (all P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Gender and age may have some impact on the quality of life in patients with chronic cough. LCQ, VAS and cough score should be used to assess cough severity and evaluate therapeutic effect in patients with chronic cough.

[The levels of nerve growth factor and IL-4 in induced sputum and characteristics of airway inflammation in cough variant asthma].

OBJECTIVE: To observe sputum cytology counts, the levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) and IL-4 in cough variant asthma (CVA) patients and the change of their levels after using glucocorticoids combined with ß(2)-adrenergic agonists one month, and to investigate CVA's characteristics of airway inflammation. METHODS: Totally 36 patients with untreated CVA were selected, as well as 23 healthy controls. Coughed up sputum cells were obtained and HE strained for differential cell counting in each enrolled patient. In induced sputum's supernatant, the levels of NGF and IL-4 were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: Before treatment, CVA patients had a median eosinophils (EOS) percentage of 8%, which was significantly higher than that after treatment (2%, P < 0.05) and in healthy control group (1%, P < 0.001). The levels of NGF and IL-4 in induced sputum of CVA group were (9.50 ± 1.69) ng/L and (257.37 ± 53.57) ng/L. After treatment, they were (8.78 ± 1.02) ng/L and (228.60 ± 52.93) ng/L in CVA group, (6.98 ± 0.69) ng/L and (166.44 ± 24.75) ng/L in healthy control group. The levels of NGF and IL-4 before and after treatment in the CVA group, as compared with the healthy control group, had statistically significant differences (all P < 0.001). In CVA group before and after treatment, the level of NGF and IL-4 paired difference was significant (P < 0.001). The percentage of induced sputum EOS correlated with sputum supernatant concentrations of NGF and IL-4 (P < 0.01). In induced sputum supernatant, the concentrations of NGF and IL-4 were significant correlated (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Glucocorticoid joint long-term ß(2) agonist inhaled treatment significantly reduced NGF, IL-4 and EOS levels and reduced eosinophilic inflammation, which are closely related with the nerve-immune mechanism, NGF as well as IL-4 participated the inflammation. Induced sputum examination is non-invasive, economical, simple, easily accepted by patients, and repeatable, widely used in clinical.