A large number of studies have reported that the composition of the gut microbiota affects the body's mucosal immune system, immune response and immune communication and that the immune system and gut microbiota mutually benefit from their interactions[4]. There is frequent and complex crosstalk between the intestinal microbiota and the host immune system. This process is affected by many factors, such as the intestinal microbiota composition, the host itself, and environmental factors. The intestinal microbiota can act locally or remotely through metabolites and other means[16]. Our statistical and quantitative analysis revealed that the top 100 most highly cited research papers on gut microbiota and immunity have fluctuated in the last 20 years. In Fig 1 it can be seen that the largest number of articles occurred in 2012 and 2013. This was closely related to a burst of interest in the microbiota and the development of research methods such as 16S RNA sequencing and metagenomic sequencing. We also identified six keyword clusters to analyze research hotspots on gut microbiota and immunity. Among studies in the field of gut microbiota and immunity, obesity is the most intensively studied area. In the 100 most cited articles, “obesity” occurred 51 times, along with some keywords that are obviously related to obesity, such as “diet”, “diabetes”, “insulin resistance”, and “metabolic disorder”. Other keywords are also closely related to obesity, gut microbiota and immunity, such as “treg cell”, “firmicutes”, and “bacteroidetes”. Obesity and type 2 diabetes have observed changes in the ratio of Th17 to Treg in intestinal wall tissue[17, 18]. The ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes change is a new type of risk factor for obesity, which is obviously related to intestinal wall permeability and the level of intestinal inflammation[19].
The global prevalence of obesity has increased substantially over the past 40 years, from less than 1% in 1975 to 6–8% in 2016[20]. Intestinal microbiota is a new mechanism that may explain the development of obesity, and it has received extensive attention in recent years. With the progress of research, the relationship between intestinal microbiota and obesity has evolved from correlation to causation. In the normal state, probiotics in the intestinal system could directly compete for nutrients and attachment sites and produce antibacterial substances to resist infection by pathogenic microorganisms, promoting the proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cells and maintaining a complete mucosal surface. Through the maturation T and B lymphocytes and the differentiation of dendritic cells promotes the development of intestinal-associated lymphoid tissues. When intestinal microbiota imbalance occurs, these functions are affected, causing the occurrence and development of obesity[21, 22]. Therefore, based on the analysis of hot keywords, we propose that hosts and environmental factors (such as a high-fat diet) affect the composition and abundance of gut microbiota, resulting in a shift in the levels of intestinal metabolites (such as LPS and short-chain fatty acids) and immune factors (such as IgA and IL-17), mediating disorders in immune cell components (such as Treg and Th17 cells) and intestinal wall function, causing intestinal permeability and subsequent changes in the levels of various metabolites (such as butyrate) in the host and transferring metabolic signals into cells to dysregulate the expression of various genes (such as Toll). Eventually, cell function changes in the body (such as insulin resistance) are caused, and changes in hormone levels eventually cause abnormal energy metabolism to further aggravate obesity, forming a positive feedback loop.
In the analysis of countries, we found that the top five countries in this area are the United States (n= 65), France (n=16), Belgium (n=11), England (n=11), and Germany (n=11). These countries are developed countries with greater scientific research strength. Interestingly, according to the global obesity epidemic model, these countries are all in stage 3[20]. The obesity rate of people with lower socioeconomic status is higher than that of people with higher socioeconomic status. Based on our research, international cooperation in this field is still not sufficient, and it is expected that these countries will cooperate with more countries in stages 1 and 2. We observed only rRNA sequencing in the list of keywords. More advanced metagenomics and multiomics studies are needed to improve microbiome biomarkers and accurately clarify the correlation between specific gut microbiota or metabolites and diseases, which may be a hotspot for future research.
The gut microbiota may regulate the development and function of the immune system under the interaction of changes in dietary structure and human genetic constitution. At the same time, the immune system regulates the dynamic balance of the microbiota in some way. The imbalance between the two is an important cause of obesity and other metabolic diseases. In-depth study of this imbalance may bring revolutionary changes in prevention and control strategies for metabolic diseases. Recent studies have pointed out that the balance of energy metabolism plays a key role in the crosstalk between host immunity and intestinal microbiota. For example, the microbiota and its metabolites (short-chain fatty acids) promote energy production in the host by weakening the immune response mediated by TNFα[23]. Intestinal microbiota can also regulate transcription factors in mitochondria to affect ROS production, thereby regulating proinflammatory signals[24]. At the same time, the abnormal mitochondrial function caused by host mitochondrial gene mutations also affect the composition and activity of the gut microbiota[25]. In summary, energy metabolism is connected to the entire process of crosstalk between the intestinal microbiota and the host immune system. Therefore, other diseases closely related to energy metabolism are also very likely to become potential hotspots for future research on gut microbiota and immunity. That is, hotspots in the future will be other diseases closely related to energy metabolism, including nonalcoholic fatty liver and osteoporosis, with possible mechanisms also through the interaction of the intestinal microbiota with the host immune system. Mitochondrial dysfunction is an important mechanism for the pathogenesis of NAFLD[26]. Decreased β-oxidation levels and increased adipogenesis lead to the production of reactive oxygen species and liver cell damage, ultimately leading to liver damage and fibrosis[27]. This inflammatory intestinal microbiota, which is closely related to energy metabolism, is very likely to be involved. Osteoporosis is newly defined as a metabolic disease that is closely related to energy homeostasis[28]. The unique function of osteoblasts requires substantial energy production, especially during states of bone formation and remodeling. Studies have shown that osteoblasts secrete endocrine factors that connect the metabolic needs of bone formation with overall energy balance by regulating insulin production, eating behavior, and fat tissue metabolism[29]. There have been studies showing the role of intestinal microbiota, intestinal wall permeability, and Treg cells in osteoporosis[30], but the mechanism still needs further research.
This study has some limitations. We only searched the Web of Science database collection database, with other databases such as PubMed and Scopus unsearched. Some influential articles may be missed in our bibliometric analysis. Because we counted the total impact factor, which is closely related to the chronological order of article publication, all articles in the top rank were published before 2015, and thus some valuable new articles may have been missed.