Participation of Na + Channels in Epilepsy: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Production in the World

Abstract

Carmen Rubio, Ernesto Pi��n, Jos� Molina-Garc�a, Alonso Portilla, Mois�s Rubio Osornio

Background: Bibliometric analysis can be used to measure and evaluate scientific activities in certain areas, so we know where to focus our efforts. Epilepsies are mostly idiopathic and genetic, as in Dravet’s syndrome, linked to sodium channels. With this in mind, this paper delves into the published articles related to the involvement of sodium (Na+) channels in epilepsy, to get a better perspective of this specific area.

Methods: The analysis was carried out by means of the scientific follow-up of epilepsy and the study of Na+ channels in the SCOPUS databases. The information was extracted from original articles between 2000 and 2022, using epilepsy, seizure, epileptic, Na, sodium, channel, channelopathy, and channelopathies, as keywords. From the articles obtained, these were filtered and categorized (mechanisms, drugs, genetics, clinical cases, tumors, diagnosis and models), to analyze the data.

Results: 290 original works were produced from 2000 to 2022. The largest contribution comes from the United States specializing in mechanisms, followed by the United Kingdom with a greater interest in antiepileptic drugs, as well as the Netherlands. Overall, the most researched areas are mechanisms and antiepileptic drugs. Additionally, the type 1 sodium channel is the most studied, with unnamed drugs accounting for 50% of this output. On the other hand, we found that Nature Neuroscience is the top-cited journal with only one article, while Epilepsia Journal has 23 articles and 170 citations. Finally, the authors' number per article ranges from one to sixty-four and 90% of publications belong to the experimental type.

Conclusion: Epilepsy is a disease that significantly affects developing countries. The poorest countries have the highest rates of suffering from this neurological condition, which is in stark contrast to their scientific production in this field. This is probably due to technology, or the absence in SCOPUS database the articles.

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