Mohammed Alquhaidan¹, Ahmed Alnaeem¹, Ahmed Omar¹, Yukio Kitade^2,3, Sara Mahmoud⁴, Mahmoud Kandeel¹

¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, 31982 Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia,; ²Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Aichi Institute of Technology, 1247 Yachigusa, Yakusa-cho, Toyota 470-0392,; ³e-NA Biotec Inc., 3-1-2 Inabadori, Gifu 500-8043, Japan,; ⁴Delta University for Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Gamasa 11152, Egypt.

For correspondence:-  Mahmoud Kandeel   Email: mkandeel@kfu.edu.sa

Received: 18 February 2026        Accepted: 15 May 2026        Published: 31 May 2026

Citation: Alquhaidan M, Alnaeem A, Omar A, Kitade Y, Mahmoud S, Kandeel M. Clindamycin facing stewardship challenges: A bibliometric analysis of research themes and therapeutic debate. Trop J Pharm Res 2026; 25(5):723-732 doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v25i5.14

© 2026 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To explore the bibliometric overview of international literature on clindamycin, including publications, impactful authors and organizations, patterns of collaboration, and thematic changes in the last decades Methods: A bibliometric search on clindamycin was performed based on records in Scopus database. Bibliometrix and VOSviewer software were used to analyze the data. Results: Dataset included 2,651 articles based on 955 sources, with the annual growth being 7.32 % and maximum production seen in 2024. Corresponding authorship was dominated by USA, India, and China, although international collaboration was low (8.6 %). Four main thematic clusters emerged which include microbiology (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), inducible resistance (biofilm), dermatology (acne, topical formulations), pharmacology (pharmacokinetics, comparative efficacy), and women's health/pediatrics (bacterial vaginosis, pregnancy). Temporal analysis showed that there was a change in focus from chemotherapy to antimicrobial resistance, and diagnostic methods such as inducible clindamycin resistance test (D-test). The most cited work on clindamycin focused on therapeutic strengths, possible enteric side effects and resistance mechanisms. Conclusion: The study shows that sustained evolution of clindamycin is driven by resistant challenges and growth of therapeutic applications. This study suggests strengthening international cooperation and focusing on growing trends, such as biofilms and topical dermatologic innovations.

Keywords: Clindamycin, Bibliometric analysis, Antimicrobial resistance, Scientific collaboration, Thematic evolution

Impact Factor
Thompson Reuters (ISI): 0.6 (2023)
H-5 index (Google Scholar): 49 (2023)