Greater Triglyceride-Glucose Index Variability Tied to CV Risk

Key Takeaway

  • A higher triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index and greater variability in that index are both independently associated with an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Why This Matters

  • By studying the association between long-term TyG variability and risk for CVD, clinicians might be able to recognize insulin resistance earlier and reduce CVD risk.

 

Study Design

  • The prospective study from China involved 52,925 participants with no history of CVD, defined as myocardial infarction or stroke, who underwent three health exams between June 2006 and December 2010; follow-up extended through December 2019.

  • Mean age at baseline was 53 years, and 76.3% of participants were male.

  • The relation between CVD outcomes and both baseline TyG index and variability of that index across the three examinations was explored.

 

Key Results

  • During a median follow-up of 9 years, 2745 (5.2%) participants developed CVD.

  • The highest tertiles of baseline TyG index and mean TyG index, compared with their respective lowest tertiles, were associated with an increased risk for CVD.

  • The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for baseline TyG index was 1.35 (95% CI, 1.20 - 1.51) and for mean TyG index was 1.42 (95% CI ,1.27 - 1.60).

  • The highest tertile for TyG index variability, compared with the lowest tertile, was associated with an increased risk for CVD (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03 - 1.24).

Limitations

  • The analysis could not establish a causal association between TyG index and cardiovascular outcomes.

  • Participants had to have undergone three examinations, which could have introduced selection bias to the study population.

  • Participants were Chinese men and women living in the Kailuan community, so it is unclear whether the results can be extrapolated to other populations.

Disclosures

  • This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, Beijing Excellent Talents Training Program, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Golden Seed Program of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital.

  • The authors declared no competing interests.

 

This is a summary of a preprint research study, Triglyceride-glucose index variability and incident cardiovascular disease: a prospective cohort study, written by Haibin Li from Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, China and colleagues on ResearchSquare.com provided to you by Medscape. This study has not yet been peer reviewed. The full text of the study can be found on ResearchSquare.com.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/973844