Visualization of research status and prediction of development trends in bacterial responses to hydrogen peroxide stress

Abstract:

[Background] Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), an environmentally friendly disinfectant, is widely used in medical treatment, food safety, industrial bleaching, environmental disinfection and other fields. However, long-term use of H₂O₂ can lead to bacterial tolerance to H₂O₂. [Objective] Through bibliometric analysis, we can gain insights into the current research hotspots and frontiers within the realm of bacterial responses to H₂O₂ stress, thereby predicting the future development trends in this field. [Methods] CiteSpace was used to visually analyze the research papers about bacterial responses to H₂O₂ stress in the last ten years regarding the annual publications, countries, institutions, cited journals, authors, keywords, etc. [Results] A total of 986 SCI research papers that met the requirements were screened out, mainly involving the fields of Microbiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology. The studies in this field in the last ten years mainly focused on factors affecting the endogenous H₂O₂ production, oxidative stress damage, antioxidant defense systems, signal transduction, and immune regulation. [Conclusion] The available studies in this field mainly focus on the response and regulation of bacterial themselves to H₂O₂. However, few studies report the interactions between different bacteria as well as between bacteria and hosts. The future research directions may include exploring the impact of endogenous H₂O₂ produced by pathogenic bacteria on the hosts and the bacterial adaption mechanism in dealing with host stress responses, which can be used for antibacterial and bactericidal treatment and environmental pollution remediation. This article lays a foundation for deciphering the mechanism of bacterial responses to H₂O₂ stress, preventing and controlling pathogenic bacteria, and revealing bacterial interactions with hosts.