# Natural medicines for radioprotection and radiosensitization: a bibliometric analysis of mechanisms and trends (2001–2025)

## TL;DR

This paper analyzes global research trends on natural medicines for protecting against and enhancing the effects of ionizing radiation from 2001 to 2025.

## Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of natural medicines for radioprotection and radiosensitization, highlighting research hotspots and future directions.

## Key findings

- India and China were the most productive countries in this research area.
- Oxidative stress, DNA damage, and radioprotection were identified as core research themes.
- Future research should focus on molecular mechanisms and clinical applications of natural medicines.

## Abstract

Ionizing radiation (IR) poses a global health threat, inducing molecular damage and chronic issues. Despite its significance, there has been limited bibliometric analysis to systematically evaluate the status, hotspots, and trends in the field of natural medicines (NMs) against IR.

To comprehensively understand the status, hotspots, and trends in the field of NMs against IR.

Documents concerning NMs against IR were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) and PubMed databases. The literature analysis was conducted using VOSviewer 1.6.17 and CiteSpace 6.1.R6 software.

In total, 450 publications were encompassed. The most productive author was Baliga MS (19 documents) and Father Muller Medical College (11 documents, 688 citations); dominant countries were India (148 documents) and Peoples R China (99 documents); and a top journal was J Ethnopharmacol (615 citations). The first high-cited article was “Protection against Ionizing Radiation by Antioxidant Nutrients and Phytochemicals” by Weiss, JF (2003) with 459 citations. Oxidative stress, DNA damage, apoptosis, and radioprotection were identified as core research themes.

Currently, the main hotspot is the elucidation of cellular and molecular mechanisms using novel technologies such as network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation. Future studies are needed to focus on the inherent molecular mechanisms and clinical applications. In addition, potential side effects of the bioactive compounds cannot be ignored.