BAX and Sepsis: A Bax/Bcl-2 ration favouring Bax expression and an additional caspase-3 upregulation is a secure sign for induced apoptosis (Salakou et al., 2007), so these findings show that a mild sepsis in mice can lead to a hearing impairment due to apoptosis of supporting cells of the organ of Corti, as well as in the lateral wall, especially in the type I fibrocytes of the spiral ligament and changes in the inner hair cells.