Current Status and Trends in Lung Transplant Research Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze research projects on lung transplant funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China from 1986 to 2022 and to provide a scientific reference for lung transplant research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified research hotspots and frontiers in the field of lung transplant research using CiteSpace visualization. RESULTS: From 1986 to 2022, the National Natural Science Foundation of China funded 93 projects related to lung transplant, with an average of 2.51 projects and ¥0.94 million annually. The National Natural Science Foundation of China funded 30 institutions across 20 provinces, with general and youth science foundation projects comprising 45.16% and 41.93% of the total projects, respectively. The main categories of disciplines included H0113 respiratory intervention, tracheal reconstruction, and lung transplantation; H1105 organ transplantation and transplant immunization; and H0109 acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The research hotspots mainly included ischemia-reperfusion injury, gene regulation, obliterative bronchiolitis, rejection reaction, T cells, and stem cells. The 6 main research clusters were ischemia-reperfusion injury, immune tolerance, obliterative bronchiolitis, stem cells, pulmonary fibrosis, and rejection reaction. The main key word bursts in the past 5 years were "vein endothelial" and "ex vivo lung perfusion." CONCLUSIONS: In the past 37 years, National Natural Science Foundation of China-funded projects have significantly advanced the clinical application and basic research of lung transplantation. However, compared with developed countries and other solidorgan transplantations, several problems still require attention and improvements in lung transplant research in China.