Abstract
BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a clinical syndrome characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates, posing a severe threat to human health. Its pathophysiology is complex, involving multiple physiological and pathological processes. Protein post-translational modification (PTM) play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of sepsis by regulating inflammation, immune responses, and organ dysfunction. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the association between sepsis and PTM; however, a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the current research status and development trends in this field is still lacking. METHODS: This study analyzed literature from the Web of Science Core Collection published between 2005 and 2024. CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Excel facilitated the bibliometric analysis, visualizing publication trends, contributions across countries/regions and institutions, journal distributions, author collaboration networks, and keyword clusters. RESULTS: A total of 1705 articles were included, originating from 58 countries/regions. The annual publication volume showed exponential growth (R (2) = 0.9662), with China leading the way (48.68%), followed by the United States (29.27%). Shanghai Jiao Tong University emerged as a high-yield institution (n = 51), while the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated the highest citation impact (with an average of 109.87 citations per article). Prominent journals featuring these articles include Shock (n = 77) and the Journal of Immunology (with an average citation of 65.75 times per article). Research hotspots were centered around phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and methylation, with emerging trends such as sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI), autophagy, and mitochondrial dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Research on the sepsis-related PTM is flourishing. This study systematically reveals the research dynamics and core trends in this field.