Global research trends on gold and silver nanoparticle-induced cytotoxicity in cancer cells: A bibliometric perspective

• Bibliometric study on AuNPs and AgNPs cytotoxicity from 2000 to 2025. • India leads globally in publications and citations on nanoparticle cytotoxicity. • Top cited papers focus on ROS, apoptosis, and nanoparticle size effects. • Standardized nanoparticle cytotoxicity protocols are urgently needed. • Safe-by-design nanoparticle strategies should be prioritized to minimize health risks. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the wealth of available data on the toxicity of gold (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Over the past 25 years, significant research has been conducted on the cytotoxic effects of these NPs on cancer cells. The specific objective of this study is to investigate the bibliometric trends in this field, examining the contributions of different authors, years, countries, and organizations. To conduct this analysis, a collection of publications related to the cytotoxic impact of AuNPs and AgNPs from 2000 to 2025 was gathered from the Web of Science database in April 2025. Microsoft Excel, GraphPad Prism, and VOSViewer software were utilized to analyze the annual publication trends, country citations, and frequently used keywords. A total of 1224 published papers were identified and analyzed. The results of the bibliometric analysis revealed that India had the highest number of publications (436) and citations (15,417), followed by Saudi Arabia with 199 articles. The most highly cited paper in this field, with 698 citations, was published by Brown in 2010 in JACS. Furthermore, the co-occurrence analysis of author keywords highlighted the frequent use of keywords such as AgNPs, green synthesis, cytotoxicity, and anticancer activity. Overall, this bibliometric analysis highlights the promising potential of NPs in cancer research within the field of nanomedicine. The findings provide valuable insights into the research landscape and can guide future investigations in this exciting area of study.