Natural medicines for radioprotection and radiosensitization: a bibliometric analysis of mechanisms and trends (2001–2025)
Di Y, Song J, Wang Y, Meng L, Li J (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article, Review article
Publication year: 2026
Journal
Book Volume: 16
Article Number: 1792854
DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2026.1792854
Abstract
Background: Ionizing radiation (IR) poses a global health threat, inducing molecular damage and chronic issues. Despite its significance, there has been limited bibliometric analysis to systematically evaluate the status, hotspots, and trends in the field of natural medicines (NMs) against IR. Purpose: To comprehensively understand the status, hotspots, and trends in the field of NMs against IR. Methods: Documents concerning NMs against IR were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and PubMed databases. The literature analysis was conducted using VOSviewer 1.6.17 and CiteSpace 6.1.R6 software. Results: In total, 450 publications were encompassed. The most productive author was Baliga MS (19 documents) and Father Muller Medical College (11 documents, 688 citations); dominant countries were India (148 documents) and Peoples R China (99 documents); and a top journal was J Ethnopharmacol (615 citations). The first high-cited article was “Protection against Ionizing Radiation by Antioxidant Nutrients and Phytochemicals” by Weiss, JF (2003) with 459 citations. Oxidative stress, DNA damage, apoptosis, and radioprotection were identified as core research themes. Conclusion: Currently, the main hotspot is the elucidation of cellular and molecular mechanisms using novel technologies such as network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation. Future studies are needed to focus on the inherent molecular mechanisms and clinical applications. In addition, potential side effects of the bioactive compounds cannot be ignored.
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China (CN)How to cite
APA:
Di, Y., Song, J., Wang, Y., Meng, L., & Li, J. (2026). Natural medicines for radioprotection and radiosensitization: a bibliometric analysis of mechanisms and trends (2001–2025). Frontiers in Oncology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2026.1792854
MLA:
Di, Yupeng, et al. "Natural medicines for radioprotection and radiosensitization: a bibliometric analysis of mechanisms and trends (2001–2025)." Frontiers in Oncology 16 (2026).
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