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. 2022 May;11(2):178-186.
doi: 10.12997/jla.2022.11.2.178. Epub 2022 Apr 21.

Triglyceride-Glucose Index Is a Useful Marker for Predicting Future Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in Young Korean Adults: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Yun Kyung Cho  1 , Kyung-do Han  2 , Hwi Seung Kim  3   4 , Chang Hee Jung  3   4 , Joong-Yeol Park  3   4 , Woo Je Lee  3   4
Affiliations

Triglyceride-Glucose Index Is a Useful Marker for Predicting Future Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in Young Korean Adults: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Yun Kyung Cho et al. J Lipid Atheroscler. 2022 May.

Abstract

Objective: The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, the product of fasting triglycerides and glucose, is a useful and cost-effective marker of insulin resistance (IR). Furthermore, the TyG index is a known IR screening tool in healthy young adults but not in those with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the TyG index as a predictor of CVD in healthy young adults.

Methods: This study enrolled 6,675,424 adults aged 20-39 years without CVD from the National Health Information Database. We categorized them by TyG index quartile from 2009-2017. The study outcomes were stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and mortality. All outcomes were analyzed by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis while controlling for baseline covariates.

Results: During a mean 7.4 years of follow-up, 8,506 cases of stroke, 12,312 cases of MI, and 22,667 deaths were recorded. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for participants in the highest TyG index quartile demonstrated that they were at higher risk for stroke (HR, 1.253; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.167-1.346), MI (HR, 1.258; 95% CI, 1.187-1.334), and mortality (HR, 1.151; 95% CI, 1.104-1.200) than those in the lowest TyG index quartile independent of age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, income, body mass index, blood pressure, and total cholesterol. The HRs for outcomes in the highest quartiles were higher when the TyG index was applied than when triglyceride or fasting glucose alone was applied.

Conclusion: TyG index, a simple measure reflecting IR, can predict CVD and mortality in young and healthy populations.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; Glucose; Mortality; Triglyceride; Young adult.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Flowchart of the study cohort enrollment process.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Kaplan-Meier curves of (A) stroke, (B) myocardial infarction, and (C) stroke by TyG index quartile.
TyG, triglyceride-glucose.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for (A) stroke, (B) myocardial infarction, and (C) stroke by quartiles of triglyceride, fasting plasma glucose, and TyG index.
TG, triglyceride; FPG, fasting plasma glucose; TyG, triglyceride-glucose.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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