Hirudin Research at a Glance: Three-Decade Bibliometric and Pharmacological Review
Dingshan Zhang, Jinwen Wu, Lingling Liang, Xinrui Yang, Haobo Wang, Qirui Chen, Shiqi Cheng, Gang Luo, Mengnan LiuObjectives
Hirudin is the most potent natural anticoagulant known. It is widely used in the clinical treatment of thromboembolic diseases such as cerebral infarction and myocardial infarction. Research on hirudin has continued for nearly a century and many results have been obtained during this period, but no bibliometric analysis of hirudin has been reported. This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis and an integrative pharmacological review of hirudin.
Methods
Literature related to hirudin from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 2025 was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. Bibliometric analysis and visualization were performed by using CiteSpace, VOSviewer, HistCite Pro, SCImago Graphica, etc., and integrative pharmacological reviews of hirudin were summarized.
Results
A total of 872 articles (795 articles and 77 reviews) were included. 2007 and 2008 were the peak years for Hirudin publications. China has the most publications in this field, followed by the United States of America. McMaster University is a leader in hirudin-related research. Professor Warkentin Theodore E from Canada has made significant achievements in this field. Thrombosis Research is the most active journal and Blood is the most cited journal. The keywords were classified into 10 major categories by cluster analysis: (1) binding; (2) heparin-induced thrombocytopenia; (3) expression; (4) complex; (5) medicinal leeches; (6) aggregometry; (7) intravital microscopy; (8) endothelial cells; (9) escherichia coli; (10) coagulation factor xa. As a specific thrombin inhibitor, hirudin has a variety of pharmacological effects such as anticoagulant, antithrombotic, anti-atherosclerosis, improvement of cerebral hemorrhage, anti-fibrosis, anti-tumor, improvement of diabetes mellitus, and anti-hyperuricemia, etc. It can be used in the clinical treatment of a variety of diseases.
Conclusions
The present study systematically summarizes the results of past research related to hirudin. Hirudin has a variety of effects such as anticoagulant and antithrombotic, anti-atherosclerotic, antifibrotic, and antitumor. In-depth and comprehensive studies on the mechanism of action of hirudin and the development of hirudin derivatives will become a hot research topic. Further research on hirudin will help to broaden the clinical scope of hirudin, which will benefit more patients.