Table 1.

Primers used for real-time PCR.

Gene	Forward Primer	Reverse Primer
ANF	5′-CAGGGCAAACAGGAGCAAA-3′	5′-TCCATCAGGTCTGCATTGGA-3′
CTGF	5′-TCCCACGGAGGGTCAAACT-3′	5′-CATCACGGGACACCCATTC-3′
MMP-2	5′-CCTGGGCCCCGTCACT-3′	5′-GAGATGCCGTCGAAGACGAT-3′
MMP-9	5′-TTAGGAACCGCTTGCATTTCTT-3′	5′-CCCCCTCCCTCAGAAAGTCT-3′
18s rRNA	5′-CGAACGTCTGCCCTATCAACTT-3′	5′-ACCCGTGGTCACCATGGTA-3′

ANF, atrial natriuretic factor (NM_174124); CTGF, connective tissue growth factor (NM_174030); MMP-2, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (NM_174745); MMP-9, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (NM_174744); 18s rRNA, 18s ribosomal RNA (eukaryotic sequence).