An article by USF Health rheumatologist Dr. John D. Carter was selected as one of the top eight 2010 research studies in the medical subspecialty of rheumatology by the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The annual “Update in Rheumatology,” appearing in the Annals of Internal Medicine April 5, 2011 issue, “highlights important articles and promising findings published in 2010 that are likely to affect practice or lead to larger-scale trials.” The update describes each of the studies chosen, explains why they are important and the implications of the findings.

Dr. John D. Carter

Among the top eight papers listed, the article cites a 2010 National Institutes of Health multicenter study led by Dr. Carter indicating that long-term combination antibiotic therapy may alleviate symptoms and induce remission in reactive arthritis. (Reactive arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that develops in response to an infection elsewhere in the body.) That article, “Combination antibiotics as a treatment for chronic Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis: a double-blind, placebo-controlled prospective trial,” was published last year in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

“To our knowledge, this is the only study that shows positive results of long-term antibiotic use in reactive arthritis,” writes Update in Rheumatology author Dr. Atul Deodhar, Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases, Oregon Health & Science University, “If these findings are confirmed in future studies, they will have an important effect on how we investigate and treat reactive arthritis and even ‘undifferentiated spondyloarthritis.’”

Dr. Carter is director of the Division of Rheumatology and associate professor of medicine at USF Health.

Annals of Internal Medicine, a leading academic medical journal published by the American College of Physicians, is among the most cited of general clinical medical journals.

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