Assaying Reproductive Capacity in Female Rodents

It is an important part of many rodent studies to assess reproductive capacity in the female. Animal models that involve exposure to organic compounds, teratogenicity studies, or exposure to suboptimal environments during early development often result in deficits in female fertility. In addition to longitudinal physiology assays of fecundity, there are several molecular biology approaches to assessing female reproductive potential that can be performed to provide a "snapshot" of fertility potential at a single time-point. Here we describe some of the most useful ways to assess female reproductive capacity in rodents.