Table 1_Synovial inflammation and immune-stromal crosstalk in osteoarthritis-related synovial fibroblast research, 2006–2025: a bibliometric analysis.docx

Annual output increased from 53 publications in 2006 to 142 in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 5.32%. China contributed the largest number of publications, whereas international collaboration remained relatively limited. Keyword and citation structures indicated a strong influence of RA-FLS-related knowledge sources.

Recent hotspots increasingly involved synovitis, immune-stromal interaction, extracellular vesicle-mediated communication, fibrosis, pain-associated fibroblast states, and single-cell/spatially related studies.</p>Conclusion<p>OA-FLS research has expanded from early studies of inflammatory mediators and catabolic pathways toward questions about fibroblast states, tissue location, immune-stromal interaction, and clinical phenotype association.

These findings suggest a gradual movement from RA-derived conceptual borrowing toward more OA-contextualized interpretation, although this pattern should be understood as a bibliometric inference rather than direct mechanistic proof. Future studies need to clarify which OA-FLS states have stable, reproducible, and pathologically meaningful disease associations through standardized sampling, multicenter validation, spatial localization, functional experiments, and integration with clinical phenotypes.</p>