Evolving landscapes in childhood asthma-gut microbiota research: A bibliometric analysis from 2000 to 2024

Background: Pediatric asthma, a chronic inflammatory airway disorder, is increasingly recognized for its association with gut microbiota dysbiosis, mediated through immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation. Recent advancements in multi-omics technologies and the “gut-lung axis” hypothesis have propelled this field into a research frontier. This bibliometric study delineates global research trends, collaborative networks, and emerging directions in pediatric asthma-gut microbiota research. Methods: Publications from the Web of Science Core Collection (2000–2024) were systematically retrieved using keywords related to asthma, children, and gut microbiota. Data from 635 articles (392 original studies, 243 reviews) were analyzed via CiteSpace and VOSviewer to map country/institutional contributions, author networks, citation metrics, and keyword clusters. Non-English publications, patents, and conference abstracts were excluded. Results: Global output demonstrated exponential growth, with 62% of articles published between 2018 to 2022. The United States led in productivity (180 articles, 28.35%) and citations (10,851), while Canada achieved the highest citation impact (121.12 citations/article). Key contributors included Prof Stuart E. Turvey (19 articles, 2463 citations) and Prof B. Brett Finlay (140.07 citations/article). The University of British Columbia dominated institutional contributions (28 articles, 149.11 citations/article). The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology emerged as the top journal (33 articles, 126.48 citations/article). Seminal works highlighted early-life gut dysbiosis (e.g., reduced Lachnospira and Faecalibacterium) and cesarean delivery’s role in asthma risk. Keyword clustering revealed 6 themes: disease phenotypes (asthma-allergy comorbidity), microbiota dynamics (dysbiosis, short-chain fatty acids [SCFAs]), immune mechanisms (T helper 17 cells/Treg imbalance, gut-lung axis), developmental exposures (antibiotics, breastfeeding), methodologies (metagenomics), and therapeutic strategies. Conclusion: This study underscores a paradigm shift from descriptive microbial profiling to mechanistic exploration of microbiota-derived metabolites (e.g., SCFAs) and early-life interventions. Future priorities include elucidating causal pathways via longitudinal cohorts, developing microbiota-targeted therapies, and leveraging multi-omics integration. Despite limitations in database scope, this analysis highlights accelerating translation from basic research to clinical applications through global collaboration. Researchers should prioritize interdisciplinary studies to unravel the “microbiome-immune-development” triad and optimize personalized asthma management.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Medicine

• Publication date

  2026-01-02

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1097/MD.0000000000046594PMID 41496069PMCID 12778129
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Gut microbiota dysbiosis and its impact on asthma and other lung diseases: potential therapeutic approaches

  2024cited by this paper
• Gut microbiota and its metabolic products in acute respiratory distress syndrome

  2024cited by this paper
• The gut‐lung axis and asthma susceptibility in early life

  2024cited by this paper
• Gut‐lung axis and asthma: A historical review on mechanism and future perspective

  2024cited by this paper
• Relationship between Gut Microbiota and Allergies in Children: A Literature Review

  2023cited by this paper
• Crosstalk between Gut Microbiota and Host Immunity: Impact on Inflammation and Immunotherapy

  2023cited by this paper
• Delayed gut microbiota maturation in the first year of life is a hallmark of pediatric allergic disease

  2023cited by this paper
• Assessing causal relationships between gut microbiota and asthma: evidence from two sample Mendelian randomization analysis

  2023cited by this paper
• Antibiotic use during pregnancy is linked to offspring gut microbial dysbiosis, barrier disruption, and altered immunity along the gut–lung axis

  2023cited by this paper
• Insights into the Unique Lung Microbiota Profile of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Using Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing

  2022cited by this paper
• Dietary fiber and SCFAs in the regulation of mucosal immunity.

  2022cited by this paper
• Understanding the Functional Role of the Microbiome and Metabolome in Asthma

  2022cited by this paper
• The Human Respiratory Microbiome: Current Understandings and Future Directions

  2022cited by this paper
• Gut Microbiome Studies in Livestock: Achievements, Challenges, and Perspectives

  2022cited by this paper
• Nasal Microbiome and Its Interaction with the Host in Childhood Asthma

  2022cited by this paper
• Possible role of gut microbes and host’s immune response in gut–lung homeostasis

  2022cited by this paper
• The association between early-life gut microbiota and childhood respiratory diseases: a systematic review

  2022cited by this paper
• Gut microbiota in various childhood disorders: Implication and indications

  2022cited by this paper
• The Ability of Resveratrol to Attenuate Ovalbumin-Mediated Allergic Asthma Is Associated With Changes in Microbiota Involving the Gut-Lung Axis, Enhanced Barrier Function and Decreased Inflammation in the Lungs

  2022cited by this paper
• Gut microbiota-mediated secondary bile acids regulate dendritic cells to attenuate autoimmune uveitis through TGR5 signaling.

  2021cited by this paper
• The maternal gut microbiome during pregnancy and offspring allergy and asthma.

  2021cited by this paper
• Acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes on human skin after swimming in the ocean.

  2021cited by this paper
• Microbial Regulation of Host Physiology by Short-chain Fatty Acids.

  2021cited by this paper
• Bibliometrics: Methods for studying academic publishing

  2021cited by this paper
• Advances in Asthma: New Understandings of Asthma's Natural History, Risk Factors, Underlying Mechanisms, and Clinical Management.

  2021cited by this paper
• Farming lifestyle and human milk: Modulation of the infant microbiome and protection against allergy

  2021cited by this paper
• The airway microbiome and pediatric asthma

  2021cited by this paper
• The impact of bacteria-derived ultrafine dust particles on pulmonary diseases

  2020cited by this paper
• The Microbiome and Asthma

  2020cited by this paper
• Free Fatty Acid Receptors in Health and Disease.

  2020cited by this paper
• The Microbiome and Asthma.

  2020cited by this paper
• Understanding the immunology of asthma: Pathophysiology, biomarkers, and treatments for asthma endotypes.

  2020cited by this paper
• Tryptophan metabolite-regulated Treg responses contribute to attenuation of airway inflammation during specific immunotherapy in a mouse asthma model

  2020cited by this paper
• The Role of Lung and Gut Microbiota in the Pathology of Asthma

  2020cited by this paper
• Phenotypic and functional translation of IL33 genetics in asthma.

  2020cited by this paper
• Sleep, circadian rhythm, and gut microbiota.

  2020cited by this paper
• Prophylactic effects of oral administration of Lactobacillus casei on house dust mite-induced asthma in mice.

  2020cited by this paper
• The Airway Microbiome and Childhood Asthma - What Is the Link?

  2020cited by this paper
• A bibliometric analysis of periodontology.

  2020cited by this paper
• The Fungal Microbiome and Asthma

  2020cited by this paper
• The crosstalk between microbiome and asthma: Exploring associations and challenges

  2019cited by this paper
• Asthma in the Primary Care Setting.

  2019cited by this paper
• Conjugated bile acids attenuate allergen-induced airway inflammation and hyperresposiveness by inhibiting UPR transducers.

  2019cited by this paper
• The microbiome: toward preventing allergies and asthma by nutritional intervention.

  2019cited by this paper
• An approach to the asthma‐protective farm effect by geocoding: Good farms and better farms

  2018cited by this paper
• S1P-dependent interorgan trafficking of group 2 innate lymphoid cells supports host defense

  2018cited by this paper
• The Role of the Microbiome in Asthma: The Gut–Lung Axis

  2018cited by this paper
• LPS Exposure in Early Life Protects Against Mucus Hypersecretion in Ovalbumin-Induced Asthma by Down-Regulation of the IL-13 and JAK-STAT6 Pathways

  2018cited by this paper
• Breastfeeding, Childhood Asthma, and Allergic Disease

  2017cited by this paper
• Effects of bile acids on human airway epithelial cells: implications for aerodigestive diseases

  2017cited by this paper
• The First Microbial Colonizers of the Human Gut: Composition, Activities, and Health Implications of the Infant Gut Microbiota

  2017cited by this paper
• Segmented Filamentous Bacteria Provoke Lung Autoimmunity by Inducing Gut-Lung Axis Th17 Cells Expressing Dual TCRs.

  2017cited by this paper
• Microbiome effects on immunity, health and disease in the lung

  2017cited by this paper
• Gut–lung axis: The microbial contributions and clinical implications

  2017cited by this paper
• D‐tryptophan from probiotic bacteria influences the gut microbiome and allergic airway disease

  2017cited by this paper
• Intestinal commensal bacteria mediate lung mucosal immunity and promote resistance of newborn mice to infection

  2017cited by this paper
• Neonatal gut microbiota associates with childhood multi–sensitized atopy and T–cell differentiation

  2016cited by this paper
• Shifts in Lachnospira and Clostridium sp. in the 3-month stool microbiome are associated with preschool age asthma.

  2016cited by this paper
• Una destinatio, viae diversae

  2016cited by this paper
• Dynamics of Gut Microbiota According to the Delivery Mode in Healthy Korean Infants

  2016cited by this paper
• Intestinal microbiome is related to lifetime antibiotic use in Finnish pre-school children

  2016cited by this paper
• Tissue residency of innate lymphoid cells in lymphoid and nonlymphoid organs

  2015cited by this paper
• Microbiota in allergy and asthma and the emerging relationship with the gut microbiome.

  2015cited by this paper
• Functional characterization of IgA-targeted bacterial taxa from undernourished Malawian children that produce diet-dependent enteropathy

  2015cited by this paper
• Early infancy microbial and metabolic alterations affect risk of childhood asthma

  2015cited by this paper
• Decreased gut microbiota diversity, delayed Bacteroidetes colonisation and reduced Th1 responses in infants delivered by Caesarean section

  2013cited by this paper
• Portrait of an immunoregulatory bifidobacterium

  2012cited by this paper
• Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 administration induces Foxp3 T regulatory cells in human peripheral blood: potential role for myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells

  2011cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.