Table 5 Overall ranking order of candidate reference genes based on the output values from three programs and selection of the best genes in the intervertebral disc of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat and New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit

geNorm

1.515

0.498

1.268

0.498

0.664

2.040

2.406

NormFinder

0.947

0.931

0.755

0.788

0.541

1.482

1.417

Hprt1 and CycA

BestKeeper

1.23

0.66

1.05

0.69

0.35

2.22

2.25

Average

1.23

0.70

1.02

0.66

0.52

1.91

2.02

Rank

5

3

4

2

1

6

7

NZW rat

Actb

GAPDH

18S rRAN

CycA

Hprt1

Ywhaz

Pgk1

Best genes

geNorm

0.414

0.903

0.803

0.484

0.565

0.414

0.698

NormFinder

0.478

0.699

0.511

0.227

0.371

0.497

0.374

BestKeeper

0.53

1.12

0.90

0.36

0.23

0.64

0.43

CycA Hprt1 and Actb

Average

0.47

0.91

0.74

0.36

0.39

0.52

0.50

Rank

3

7

6

1

2

5

4

rat & rabbit

Actb

GAPDH

18S rRAN

CycA

Hprt1

Ywhaz

Pgk1

Best genes

geNorm

1.427

0.854

1.217

0.598

0.598

2.081

1.804

NormFinder

0.658

0.956

0.596

0.636

0.514

0.783

0.808

BestKeeper

0.97

0.85

1.23

0.68

0.30

1.12

1.01

Hprt1 and CycA

Average

1.02

0.89

1.01

0.64

0.47

1.33

1.21

Rank

5

3

4

2

1

7

6