Global research landscape and hotspots of paraptosis: a multi-database bibliometric analysis with a focused literature review.

Background: Paraptosis is a non-canonical form of programmed cell death distinct from apoptosis and morphologically characterized by prominent cytoplasmic vacuolation. However, a systematic assessment of the overall development, research landscape, and hotspot evolution of paraptosis remains lacking. This study therefore used bibliometric methods to systematically map paraptosis-related publications, and provide an evidence-based reference for future research. Methods: Using "paraptosis" as the core search term, we systematically retrieved paraptosis-related publications from the Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, and Scopus from database inception to December 31, 2025. Only English-language articles and reviews were included. VOSviewer, CiteSpace, R, and Excel were used to analyze and visualize publication trends, collaboration networks, journal distribution, co-citation relationships, keyword co-occurrence, clustering, and thematic evolution. Results: A total of 401 publications were included. Annual output showed an overall fluctuating upward trend, with marked growth from 2020 to 2025. China (n = 155) and Ajou University (n = 19) were the most productive country and institution, respectively, and Choi Kyeong Sook was a representative core author. Journals in this field mainly focused on cell death and related mechanisms, cancer and molecular mechanisms, and chemical biology and drug research, whereas the knowledge base was primarily grounded in basic life sciences. Sperandio S was the most frequently co-cited author (n = 356), and his publications in 2000 and 2004 were the most representative co-cited references. Paraptosis has gradually attracted systematic attention as a relatively independent topic since 2018. Major hotspots included phenotypic identification, relationships with other forms of cell death, mechanistic investigation, and cancer-related research, with mechanistic studies mainly focusing on endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial damage, and reactive oxygen species accumulation. Conclusion: Paraptosis research remains in sustained development and has gradually extended from phenotypic identification toward mechanistic elucidation and potential applications. Its value in cancer research and its potential connection with the tumor microenvironment may represent important future frontiers. Strengthening international collaboration and cross-team communication, together with high-quality applied research, may help advance the functional characterization and translational investigation of paraptosis in disease.