Table 1. Nucleotide sequences of primers and amplicon size used for qRT-PCR.

Gene	Forward primer (5' to 3')	Reverse primer (5' to 3')	Amplicon (bp)
18S	CGCGGTTCTATTTTGTTGGT	AGTCGGCATCGTTTATGGTC	219
β-actin	TACAGCTTCACCACCACAGC	TCTCCAGGGAGGAAGAGGAT	120
AgRP	AGAGTTCTCAGGTCTAAGTCT	CTTGAAGAAGCGGCAGTAGCACGT	210
CART	AGAAGAAGTACGGCCAAGTCC	CACACAGCTTCCCGATCC	84
GDI	CCGCACAAGGCAAATACATC	GACTCTCTGAACCGTCATCAA	210
Leptin	TTCACACACGCAGTCGGTAT	AGGTCTCGCAGGTTCTCCAG	186
NPY	TGGACTGACCCTCGCTCTAT	GTGTCTCAGGGCTGGATCTC	188
ObRb	AGCCAAACAAAAGCACCATT	TCCTGAGCCATCCAGTCTCT	174
POMC	CCTGTGAAGGTGTACCCCAATGTC	CACGTTCTTGATGATGGCGTTC	266
SOCS-3	ACTGAGCCGACCTCTCTCCT	CCCCTCTGACCCTTTCTTTG	172

Abbreviations: AgRP, Agouti-related peptide; CART, cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript; GDI, rho gdp dissociation inhibitor alpha; NPY, neuropeptide Y; ObRb, long-form leptin receptor; POMC, proopiomelanocortin; SOCS-3, suppressor of cytokine signalling-3. Thermal cycling conditions for all genes, with the exception of leptin were as follows: 10 min at 95°C followed by a total of 40 two-temperature cycles (15 s at 95°C and 1 min at 60°C). For leptin, conditions were as follows: 7 min at 95°C followed by a total of 50 three-temperature cycles (15 s at 95°C, 20 s at 60°C and 40 s at 72°C).