Protective effects of Vitamin E on CCl₄-induced testicular toxicity in male rats

The increased generation of free radicals plays an important role in testicular damage. The present study aimed to investigate the adverse effects of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) on the reproductive system of male rats as well as to examine whether Vitamin E (VE) is able to ameliorate these effects. The rats were equally divided into three groups: control, CCl4-treated, and CCl4 + VE-treated groups. After 4 weeks of treatment, the decrease in body and testes weights, sperm parameters, and the decrease in serum levels of testosterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone of CCl4-treated rats were ameliorated by VE treatment. The co-administration of VE with CCl4 significantly decreased the level of lipid peroxidation production (malondialdehyde) and increased the activity of anti-oxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) when compared with the CCl4 group. Moreover, VE prevented CCl4-induced severe testicular histopathological lesions and deformities in spermatogenesis. The results demonstrate that VE augments the anti-oxidants’ defense mechanism against CCl4-induced reproductive toxicity suggesting a therapeutic role in free radical-mediated infertility

Diversification by Urbanization: Tracing the Property-Finance Nexus in Dubai and the Gulf

This article explores the role of liberalized real estate markets in shaping financial-sector development in the Arab Gulf region. Since 2001, record oil revenues and the inflow of repatriated wealth into the region have generated immense demand for new, productive destinations for surplus capital. Gulf Cooperation Council states have subsequently undergone rapid growth that is intimately tied to the regulatory transformation of urban real estate markets and the circulation of surplus capital from oil rents to the ‘secondary circuit’ of the built environment. With an emphasis on the city of Dubai, we employ the notion of diversification by urbanization to trace the re-regulation of real estate markets and highlight how these strategies have subsequently shaped Gulf financial markets. Through an examination of the impacts of real estate mega-project development on local banking credit, equities and Islamic financial markets, we reframe recent urbanization in the region as a process of financial re-engineering, and identify the emergence of capital groups whose accumulation activities are tightly connected to both the real estate and financial circuit