Abstract
BACKGROUND: Apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death, plays a significant role in osteoarthritis; however, bibliometric studies in this field remain scarce. Bibliometrics provides a visual representation of research outcomes and trends, guiding future investigations. METHOD: Journal data from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2023, in this field were obtained from the Web of Science (WOS) core database. Analysis was conducted using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. RESULTS: Analysis revealed that over the past decade, 794 articles were published in 299 journals by 4447 authors from 49 countries and 877 institutions. The top contributors were China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Zhuang Chao emerged as the most prolific author, and "osteoarthritis and cartilage" ranked as the most frequently cited journal. Keyword clustering focused on mechanisms, inflammation, and cartilage. The most-cited article was "chondrocyte apoptosis in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis" in the "International Journal of Molecular Sciences." Burst word analysis highlighted extracellular matrix, circular RNA, micro RNA, indicating current research hotspots. CONCLUSION: Utilizing bibliometrics and visual analysis, we explored the hotspots and trends in the field of chondrocyte apoptosis in osteoarthritis. Extracellular matrix, Circular RNA, Micro RNA, among others, are likely to become future research focal points and frontiers.