Triglycerides to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TG/HDL), but not triglycerides and glucose product (TyG) index, is associated with arterial stiffness in prediabetes

Abstract

Aims: Prediabetes (preD) carries increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) events than normal-glucose-tolerance (NGT). Insulin resistance, a hallmark of preD, is closely linked to CV-risk, making its assessment crucial. Triglycerides-to-high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol-ratio (TG/HDL) and triglycerides-and-glucose-product (TyG) have emerged as surrogate of insulin resistance. We aimed to evaluate the association of these indexes with CV-risk assessed through arterial stiffness in preD.

Methods: 377 individuals without diagnosis of diabetes underwent: (1) complete biochemistry and oral-glucose-tolerance-test; (2) CV-risk assessment through arterial stiffness (pulsed-wave-velocity - PWV - and augmentation-index - AugI) and intima-media-thickness (IMT). Participants were split according to current guidelines: NGT (n = 100), preD (n = 216), and newly-diagnosed-type-2-diabetes (ND-T2D) (n = 61).

Results: TG/HDL and TyG were higher in preD than NGT, with no difference between preD and ND-T2D regarding TG/HDL. PreD showed higher PWV, AugI, and IMT than NGT. In preD group, after adjusting for major confounders, PWV was correlated with TG/HDL (β = 0.16; P = 0.03), but not with TyG, and there was a trend of association with HOMA-IR (β = 0.19, P = 0.07). In logistic regression, being in the higher tertile of TG/HDL was associated with higher PWV (odds-ratio 2.51, 95 %CI 1.01-6.29, P = 0.048).

Conclusions: In preD, TG/HDL was independently associated with PWV, suggesting its possible role as a simple, cost-effective tool for assessing CV risk.

Keywords: Arterial Stiffness; Cardiovascular Risk; Insulin resistance; Prediabetes; Triglycerides and fasting glucose product; Triglycerides to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio.