BAX and diabetes mellitus: As shown in Figure 6, Western blot analysis showed that the Bax/Bcl‐2 ratio and cleaved caspase‐3 expression were significantly increased in the Sur group and DM group compared with the control group on postoperative days 3 and 7 and were further increased in surgery‐treated rats with diabetes (Figure 6A,B, p < 0.05).