Bibliometric analysis of the top 100 most cited articles on Th17/Treg balance and rheumatoid arthritis

Objective Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease. The role of Th17/Treg balance in RA pathogenesis has been increasingly emphasized. In this study, bibliometric and visualization analyses of the top 100 most cited articles on Th17/Treg balance in the field of RA were conducted. Methods By searching the Web of Science Core Collection database, the top 100 most cited articles of related studies were included, and the authors, countries, institutions, journals, keywords and other information were extracted for analysis using VOSviewer software. Results The top 100 most cited papers had a total of 7185 citations, with an average citation frequency of 72 (range 21–730). All of them were published between 2011 and 2022. The most influential paper, with 730 citations, was written by “Komatsu, Noriko” in 2014 and published in NATURE MEDICINE. The author with the highest output was “Cho, Mi-La” (n = 24). China was the country with the highest number of publications (n = 42). Catholic University of Korea was the institution with the highest number of publications (n = 24). ARTHRITIS AND RHEUMATISM (n = 7), ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATOLOGY (n = 7) and INTERNATIONAL IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY (n = 7) were the journals that published the most literature. “Expression” (cytokines and transcription factors, etc) and “differentiation” (T cells, Treg cells, and Th17 cells) were the themes of the research. “Mechanisms”, “gut microbiota”, “STAT3”, “interleukin-6”, “synovial fibroblasts” were the hot spots of research in recent years. Conclusions For the first time, the top 100 most cited articles were analyzed using bibliometric methods. We aimed to grasp the current development and research trends of RA and Th17/Treg-related studies. It is hoped that this study will provide direction and support for future research.