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Figure 1 Degree of Inhibition of COX-2 by Average Circulating Concentrations of Individual NSAIDs Functionally Selective for COX-2 Is Relevant to RR of Nonfatal MI

(A) Relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of MI according to use of individual nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). (B) Effects of therapeutic concentrations of NSAIDs on whole blood COX-1 (blue bars), mostly from platelets, and COX-2 (green bars), mostly from monocytes, in vitro. The dotted line represents the functional range of inhibition of platelet COX-1, namely, 95% (9). (C) Relationship between degree of inhibition of whole blood COX-2 and RR of MI by individual NSAIDs. Naproxen, which affects platelet COX-1 activity at functional range, is not shown. The linear regression analysis yielded a significant correlation between the 2 variables. It was performed using InStat (GraphPad, San Diego, California). Cele = celecoxib; Diclo = diclofenac; Etod = etodolac; Etori = etoricoxib; Ibu = ibuprofen; Indo = indomethacin; Melo = meloxicam; Piro = piroxicam; Rofe = rofecoxib.