Figure 1.

Experimental design. (A) ApoE-deficient mice were treated with indomethacin (3 mg/kg/day) or rofecoxib (50 mg/kg/day) for 8 weeks beginning at 15 weeks of age on normal chow. (B) Neointimal hyperplasia in the left carotid artery was induced by permanent ligation at the age of 10 weeks in ApoE-deficient mice. Starting with the ligation animals were fed Western diet and treated with indomethacin or rofecoxib as described in (A). (C) Urinary excretion of the prostacyclin (PGI₂) metabolite (2,3-dinor-6-keto PGF_1α) and the thromboxane (Tx) A₂ metabolite (2,3-dinor TxB₂) was measured by tandem mass spectroscopy to monitor COX-2 and platelet COX-1 activity, respectively.