Research progress of circadian rhythm in cardiovascular disease: A bibliometric study from 2002 to 2022

Background: Given that the circadian rhythm is intricately linked to cardiovascular physiological functions, the objective of this investigation was to employ bibliometric visualization analysis in order to scrutinize the trends, hotspots, and prospects of the circadian rhythm and cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the past two decades. Methods: A thorough exploration of the literature related to the circadian rhythm and CVD was conducted via the Web of Science Core Collection database spanning the years 2002-2022. Advanced software tools, including citespace and VOSviewer, were employed to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the co-occurrence and collaborative relationships among countries, institutions, journals, references, and keywords found in this literature. Furthermore, correlation mapping was executed to provide a visual representation of the data. Results: The present study encompassed a total of 3399 published works, comprising of 2691 articles and 708 reviews. The publications under scrutiny were primarily derived from countries such as the United States, Japan, and China. The most prominent research institutions were found to be the University of Vigo, University of Minnesota, and Harvard University. Notably, the journal Chronobiology International, alongside its co-cited publications, had the most substantial contribution to the research in this field. Following an exhaustive analysis, the most frequently observed keywords were identified as circadian rhythm, blood pressure, hypertension, heart rate, heart rate variability, and melatonin. Furthermore, a nascent analysis indicated that future research might gravitate towards topics such as inflammation, metabolism, oxidative stress, and autophagy, thereby indicating new directions for investigation. Conclusion: This analysis represents the first instance of bibliometric scrutiny pertaining to circadian rhythm and its correlation with cardiovascular disease (CVD) through the use of visualization software. Notably, this study has succeeded in highlighting the recent research frontiers and prominent trajectories in this field, thereby providing a valuable contribution to the literature.