Figure 3

Improvement of the clinical lameness score observed after an oral administration of cimicoxib vs.placebo in PM and EM dogs. Improvement of the clinical lameness score was observed (mean score + SD) vs. time (h) after oral administration of cimicoxib at 2 mg/kg (red squares) or placebo (blue circles) after induction of paw inflammation in the 8 Extensive metabolizer (EM) dogs (A) and in 4 Poor metabolizer (PM) dogs (B). The same maximal effect was observed for the two groups of dogs but the duration of the effect was longer for the PM than for the EM group reflecting the different cimicoxib disposition observed between these two groups of dogs (see Figure 1). 0 no lameness; 1 slight lameness: barely perceptible throughout almost the whole observation period; 2 obvious lameness but the animal maintains its limb on the ground; 3 moderate lameness, the animal rests the limb on the ground slightly; 4 severe lameness: the animal uses its limb (makes contact with and/or skims the ground) but it does not put its weight on the limb; 5 maximum lameness: the animal refuses to move (it remains sitting or lying down) and/or avoids putting limb on the ground at all.