Mapping Toxicological Trends: A Bibliometric Analysis of Organophosphate and Flavonoid Research in Animal Models

Organophosphates (OPs) remain persistent environmental contaminants, while flavonoids are increasingly recognized for their protective roles against toxic insults. This study employed a structured bibliometric analysis to evaluate global research trends on OP toxicity and flavonoid interventions using six commonly used animal models: zebrafish, rat, mouse, fruit fly, frog, and nematode. Data were retrieved from PubMed (1990–2025), and analyzed through publication counts, network mapping, and compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Co-occurrence keyword networks and overlay visualizations were generated using VOSviewer. Results revealed the continued dominance of rodent models in both OP and flavonoid studies, with rat-and mouse-based literature exhibiting the highest total link strength. However, zebrafish showed the highest CAGR for OP-related publications (12.78%) and robust network development in flavonoid research, suggesting a rising preference for this model. Zebrafish-flavonoid clusters were thematically rich, with emerging keywords such as "Nrf2 signaling" and "blood-brain barrier," indicating expanding mechanistic inquiry. Caenorhabditis also demonstrated notable growth in flavonoid literature, underscoring the relevance of invertebrate models. This analysis highlights a growing shift toward scalable, ethical, and mechanistically diverse model organisms. These trends support zebrafish’s role as a bridge model between environmental toxicology and biomedical translation. Bibliometric approaches such as this can inform future research priorities, funding allocations, and policy-making by identifying underexplored models and evolving scientific paradigms.