Table 2.

Effect of different doses of nimesulide on neurological deficits and functional outcome (evaluated using the rotarod test) following permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in the rat.

Treatment	Neurological Score	Rotarod performance (% of presurgery levels)
Sham-operated control (n = 8)	0	128 ± 21
Repeated doses
Vehicle (n = 9)	3 (3–5)	49 ± 18
Nimesulide 3 mg/kg (n = 7)	3 (2–4)	64 ± 13
Nimesulide 6 mg/kg (n = 8)	2 (1–5) *	89 ± 20 **
Nimesulide 12 mg/kg (n = 9)	2 (1–4) **	84 ± 14 **
Single dose
Vehicle, single dose (n = 7)	3 (3–5)	43 ± 21
Nimesulide 12 mg/kg, single dose (n = 8)	3.5 (2–5)	52 ± 19

Values show the median and range (neurological score) and means ± S.D. (rotarod performance). For the analysis of neurological score data, the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric ANOVA followed by Dunn test (multiple comparison) or Mann-Whitney test for analysis of individual differences were used. For the statistical analysis of rotarod performance results, ANOVA followed by Student-Newman-Keuls post-hoc test was employed. * P < 0.05 and ** P < 0.01 compared to vehicle.