texfile <- "\\caption[SOME WORDS]"
## -> \caption[\textit{SOME WORDS}]
texfile <-gsub('(\\\\caption\\[)([^][]*)]','\\1\\\\textit{\\2}]', texfile)
cat(texfile)
dGV4ZmlsZSA8LSAiXFxjYXB0aW9uW1NPTUUgV09SRFNdIgojIyAtPiBcY2FwdGlvbltcdGV4dGl0e1NPTUUgV09SRFN9XQp0ZXhmaWxlIDwtZ3N1YignKFxcXFxjYXB0aW9uXFxbKShbXl1bXSopXScsJ1xcMVxcXFx0ZXh0aXR7XFwyfV0nLCB0ZXhmaWxlKQpjYXQodGV4ZmlsZSk=