Tracking research trends and hotspots in sperm DNA fragmentation testing for the evaluation of male infertility: a scientometric analysis.
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This article describes the research trends in sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) over the past 20 years (1999-2018) using a scientometric approach. METHODS: A stepwise approach was adopted to retrieve scientometric data (articles per year, authors, affiliations, journals, countries) from Scopus and analyze the publication pattern of SDF with reference to key areas of research in the field of Andrology. RESULTS: A total of 2121 articles were retrieved related to SDF. Our data revealed an increasing research trend in SDF (n = 33 to n = 173) over the past 20 years (R2 = 0.894). Most productive country in publications was the USA (n = 450), while Agarwal A. (n = 129) being the most productive author. Most of the articles in SDF were primarily focused on lifestyle (n = 157), asthenozoospermia (n = 135) and varicocele (130). Mechanistic studies on SDF were published twice as much as prognostic/diagnostic studies, with significant emphasis on oxidative stress. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) was the most widely used technique to evaluate SDF. Publications on SDF related to assisted reproductive techniques also showed a linear increasing trend (R2 = 0.933). CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis revealed an increasing trend in SDF publications predominantly investigating lifestyle, asthenozoospermia and varicocele conditions with TUNEL being the most widely used technique. A substantial increase in research is warranted to establish SDF as prognostic/diagnostic parameter to evaluate clinical scenarios and ART outcomes.
Date Issued
2019-12-26
Date Acceptance
2019-11-25
Citation
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 2019, 17 (1), pp.1-13
ISSN
1477-7827
Publisher
BMC
Start Page
1
End Page
13
Journal / Book Title
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
Volume
17
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31878936
PII: 10.1186/s12958-019-0550-3
Subjects
Asthenozoospermia
Biomedical Research
DNA Damage
DNA Fragmentation
Humans
In Situ Nick-End Labeling
Infertility, Male
Male
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
Publishing
Reproductive Techniques, Assisted
Spermatozoa
United States
Varicocele
Diagnosis
DNA fragmentation
Infertility, male
Prognosis
Publications
Scientometric analysis
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2019-12-26