Objective

2

To analyze the similarities and differences in research topics， possible research hotspots and frontier trends of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） researches published from 2017 to 2021 in different countries and regions.

Methods

2

The Web of Science Core Collection was searched for TCM-related research literature from January 1st， 2017 to July 14th， 2021. The data including publication countries， institutions， keywords and citations were extracted， and the cooperation network analysis for countries and institutions was performed separately. Citation analysis was conducted for co-cited papers， while frequency and cluster analysis was performed for the keywords. The betweenness centrality （C） was calculated to judge the importance of the nodes.

Results

2

A total of 11

839 papers were included， mainly distributed in China （10

599 papers， C=0.88）， the United States （731 papers， C=0.17） and South Korea （272 papers， C=0.11）. The top three institutions with most papers were Beijing University of Chinese Medicine （670 papers）， Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine （521 papers） and Chinese Academy of Sciences （492 papers）. The top three Chinese institutions who independently completed the research and published most papers were Beijing University of Chinese Medicine （590 papers）， Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine （459）， and Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine （411 papers）， while the top three foreign institutions were Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine （50 papers）， Kyung Hee University （38 papers） and Pusan National University （29 papers）. Citation analysis conducted for co-cited papers in TCM-related researches obtained six clusters； when performed separately for researches completed independently by Chinese institutions and foreign institutions， the corresponding clusters obtained were nine and eight. In terms of word frequency and cluster analysis， five clusters were obtained which were apoptosis， metabolomics， inflammation， TCM and coronavirus disease 2019 （COVID-19）； except for searching related words， the most frequent words were expression （1

249 papers， C=0.13）， apoptosis （1

187 papers， C=0.12）， and inflammation （816 papers， C=0.12）. Five clusters regarding words frequency were obtained for researches independently completed by Chinese institutions， which were inflammation， TCM， apoptosis， network pharmacology and polysaccharide； except for searching related words， the top three frequent words were expression （1

065 papers， C=0.14）， apoptosis （1

000 papers， C=0.22）， and inflammation （690 papers， C=0.09）. Seven clusters regarding words frequency were obtained for researches independently completed by foreign institutions， which were apoptosis， acupuncture， COVID-19， antioxidants， genotoxicity， Alzheimer's di-sease， and Chinese herbal medicine； except for searching related words， the most frequent words were apoptosis （59 papers， C=0.05）， expression （59 papers， C=0.03） and extracts （51 papers， C=0.04）. TCM researches completed independently by foreign institutions （207 types， 1

837 times） used more types of keywords than those by Chinese institutions （82 types， 19

330 times）. Compared to TCM researches done independently by foreign institutions， those done independently by Chinese institutions were more frequent in apoptosis， inflammation， mechanism， cells， identification， oxidative stress， pathways， rats， proliferation， mice， model and network pharmacology （

P

＜0.01 or

P

＜0.05）， and less frequent in TCM， acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine （

P

＜0.01）.

Conclusion

2

In terms of research topics， TCM researches done independently by Chinese institutions are more inclined to use new methods such as network pharmacology， identification and efficacy screening of Chinese herbal medicine， and rapid interventional treatment of emerging diseases， while those done independently by foreign institutions place more emphasis on herbal extracts and drug delivery methods. In terms of research hotspots and frontier trends， both of them perform mechanism researches mainly on apoptosis， inflammation and oxidative stress， but Chinese institutions focus more on the introduction and innovative use of new research methods， while foreign institutions focus more on acupuncture researches.