WOMEN, IMMUNOLOGY, AND THERAPY: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ADVERSE DRUG EFFECTS IN THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

Abstract

In recent decades, the development of immunotherapies has profoundly transformed the treatment of autoimmune, infectious, oncological, and chronic diseases. However, numerous studies agree that knowledge regarding the adverse effects of these pharmacological treatments exhibits significant gaps, especially when analyzed from a sex-differentiated perspective. Women, due to their unique immunological, endocrine, and reproductive physiology, not only present a higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases but also demonstrate distinct immunopharmacological responses, which entail an increased risk of unforeseen or underreported adverse effects. Therefore, the present study aims to address the following research question: Does a network analysis of author-defined terms allow identification of the challenges related to adverse drug effects in women within the field of immunology? To answer this question, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using a corpus composed of publications from journals ranked in the Q1 quartile of the two main databases, Scopus and Web of Science, comprising a total of 548 articles. The results allowed the identification of four main clusters concentrating the conceptual terms defined by the authors: Cluster 1  Immunoregulation and reproductive therapies in women with immunological dysfunction; Cluster 2  Oncological immunotherapy and immune-mediated adverse events with metabolic impact; Cluster 3  Vaccines, HIV, and maternal-infant immunological health in vulnerable contexts; and Cluster 4  Biological therapies and immunometabolic and perinatal impact in women with chronic diseases. These findings contribute to the scientific production on this topic, opening new avenues for research that should be further explored through quantitative studies such as factor analysis and structural equation modeling.