Association between the triglyceride-glucose index and carotid plaque stability in nondiabetic adults

Abstract

Background and aims: The rupture of an unstable atherosclerotic plaque is one of the major causes of thrombosis. However, there was limited evidence on the relationship of triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, a simple surrogate marker of insulin resistance, with the carotid plaque stability. This study aimed to investigate the association between the TyG index and carotid plaque stability in nondiabetic adults.

Methods and results: The study included 4748 nondiabetic participants from the Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities Community study. Carotid plaque stability was assessed using ultrasonography. The TyG index was calculated as ln [fasting triglyceride (mg/dL) × fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2]. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of the TyG index with carotid plaque stability by calculating odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Of the 4748 participants, 1192 (25.11%) participants had stable carotid plaque, and 1247 (26.26%) had unstable carotid plaque. The prevalence of unstable carotid plaque substantially increased with increasing TyG index tertile (P for trend <0.0001). In the fully adjusted model, the OR comparing participants in the highest versus the lowest tertile of the TyG index was 1.31 (95% CI, 1.09-1.57). The optimal cutoff point for the TyG index in case of unstable carotid plaque was 8.56. However, we did not observe a statistically significant association between the TyG index and stable carotid plaque.

Conclusions: Elevated the TyG index was significantly associated with the prevalence of unstable carotid plaque in nondiabetic adults.

Keywords: Nondiabetic participants; Stable carotid plaque; Triglyceride-glucose index; Unstable carotid plaque.