Fig. 1. (  A ) Representative Western blot analysis of COX-2 protein from respectively rectus abdominis muscle and vastus lateralis muscle in control patients (C/RA and C/VL, respectively) and in septic patients (S/RA and S/LT, respectively). A main band with an estimated molecular weight of 72 kD corresponding to COX-2 was present in samples from both S/RA and S/VL and human umbilical vascular endothelial cells stimulated by 4-Phorbol-12-Myristate-13-Acetate (PMA). (  B ) Muscle COX-2 expression in control (combined C/RA and C/VL, n = 10) and septic (S/RA [n = 16] and S/LT [n = 8]) patients; *  P < 0.02. (  C ) Muscle COX-2 expression in patients who will survive and who will die; *P < 0.006.