# Analysis of research trends and development prospects of soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators/activators: using bibliometric methods

**Authors:** Bing Ju Yan, Jing Zhang, Jun Wang, Hong Xia Yuan

PMC · DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1501330 · 2025-06-10

## TL;DR

This paper uses bibliometric analysis to explore research trends and future directions in soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators/activators.

## Contribution

The study provides a novel bibliometric visualization of research hotspots and trends in sGC stimulators/activators.

## Key findings

- The United States is the most productive country in sGC stimulator/activator research.
- BAYER AG is the most productive institution in the field.
- Future research is expected to focus on drug safety and new therapeutic applications.

## Abstract

The stimulation and activation of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) has been a prominent focus of study in recent years. Currently, sGC stimulators/activators have a wide range of applications in various fields. However, there remains a gap in bibliometric analysis on this topic. We aim to visualize the research hotspots and trends in the field of sGC stimulators or activators. This analysis can equip researchers to understand current findings and forecast future trends efficiently.

The researchers searched for publications on sGC stimulators or activators in Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) on 22 July 2024. We then organized and analyzed the data using Microsoft Excel, online tool (Weishengxin), R, VOS viewer, and CiteSpace.

1,879 papers from WoSCC were gathered for analysis, comprising 1,582 articles and 297 reviews. The United States is the most productive country. And Germany stands out as the country with the most robust collaboration. The most productive institution is BAYER AG. Furthermore, the majority of journals with citation frequencies in the top 10 belong to Q1. The Professor Stasch, JP is the most prolific author and the top co-cited author. Currently, the influential keywords include “riociguat”, “outcome”, “guanylate cyclase stimulator”, “heart failure”, “natriuretic peptide”, “vericiguat”, “reduced ejection fraction”, “mortality” and “placebo”.

The future research hotspots will focus on the following aspects based on the current research hotspots: the safety verification of riociguat, the clinical efficacy of vericiguat for other types of heart failure, the role of praliciguat in diabetes nephropathy, and the efficacy and safety of newly discovered drugs. Furthermore, actively exploring new therapeutic directions for sGC stimulators or activators may also be an important trend in the future development of this field.

## Linked entities

- **Chemicals:** riociguat (PubChem CID 11304743), vericiguat (PubChem CID 54674461), praliciguat (PubChem CID 86269973)
- **Diseases:** heart failure (MONDO:0005252)

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** heart failure (MESH:D006333), diabetes nephropathy (MESH:D003928)
- **Chemicals:** praliciguat (MESH:C000631485), vericiguat (MESH:C000603960)

## Figures

9 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12185520/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12185520