A bibliometric analysis of the recent achievements in pulmonary safety of nanoparticles

Assessing research activity is an important step for planning future initiatives oriented toward filling the remaining gaps in a field. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to review recently published research on pulmonary toxicity caused by nanomaterials. However, here, instead of reviewing possible toxic effects and discussing their mode of action, the goal was to establish trends considering for example examined so far nanomaterials or used testing strategies. A total of 2316 related articles retrieved from the three most cited databases (PubMed Scopus, Web of Science), selected based on the title and abstract requirements, were used as the source of the review. Based on the bibliometric analysis, the nano-meter metal oxides, and carbon-based nanotubes were identified as the most frequently studied nanomaterials, while quantum dots, which might induce possible harmful effects, were not considered so far. The majority of testing of pulmonary safety is based on <i>in vitro</i> studies with observed growth of the contribution of novel testing strategies, such as 3D lung model, air-liquid interface system, or omic analysis.

评估研究活跃度，是规划旨在填补某一领域尚存研究空白的未来研究计划的关键环节。因此，本研究的目标是系统梳理近期发表的纳米材料（nanomaterials）致肺毒性（pulmonary toxicity）相关研究成果。然而，本次综述并非探讨潜在毒性效应及其作用机制，而是旨在梳理相关研究的发展趋势，例如迄今已被研究的纳米材料类别或是所采用的测试策略。本次综述共纳入2316篇相关文献，这些文献从被引频次最高的三大数据库（PubMed、Scopus、Web of Science）中，依据标题与摘要筛选标准检索得到。通过文献计量分析（bibliometric analysis）可知，纳米金属氧化物与碳基纳米管是当前研究最为广泛的纳米材料，而可能诱发有害效应的量子点（quantum dots）迄今尚未得到足够关注。当前多数肺安全性测试均基于体外（in vitro）实验，且新兴测试策略的占比正逐步提升，例如三维肺模型（3D lung model）、气液界面系统（air-liquid interface system）以及组学分析（omic analysis）等。