Effects of prenatal stress on reproduction in male and female mice.

Pregnant mice were exposed to heat-restraint stress from Days 14 through 21 of gestation. Feminine receptivity quotients were significantly higher in prenatally-stressed male offspring than in unhandled males; however there were no differences in testes weights or masculine copulatory behavior. Prenatally stressed females exhibited vaginal opening at a later date, had longer estrus cycles and higher median quality receptivity scores than unhandled controls. Prenatal stress had no profound effects on pregnancy, parturition or survival of young. However there was a significantly smaller proportion of parturient postnatally stressed females compared to unhandled controls.