Associations of the Triglyceride and Glucose Index With Hypertension Stages, Phenotypes, and Their Progressions Among Middle-Aged and Older Chinese

Association between TyG index trajectory and new-onset lean NAFLD: a longitudinal study

Objective

The purpose of this manuscript is to identify longitudinal trajectories of changes in triglyceride glucose (TyG) index and investigate the association of TyG index trajectories with risk of lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Methods

Using data from 1,109 participants in the Health Management Cohort longitudinal study, we used Latent Class Growth Modeling (LCGM) to develop TyG index trajectories. Using a Cox proportional hazard model, the relationship between TyG index trajectories and incident lean NAFLD was analyzed. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to visually display the dose-response association between TyG index and lean NAFLD. We also deployed machine learning (ML) via Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) to predict lean NAFLD, validated by receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs). The LightGBM model was used to create an online tool for medical use. In addition, NAFLD was assessed by abdominal ultrasound after excluding other liver fat causes.

Results

The median age of the population was 46.6 years, and 440 (39.68%) of the participants were men. Three distinct TyG index trajectories were identified: "low stable" (TyG index ranged from 7.66 to 7.71, n=206, 18.5%), "moderate stable" (TyG index ranged from 8.11 to 8.15, n=542, 48.8%), and "high stable" (TyG index ranged from 8.61 to 8.67, n=363, 32.7%). Using a "low stable" trajectory as a reference, a "high stable" trajectory was associated with an increased risk of lean-NAFLD (HR: 2.668, 95% CI: 1.098-6.484). After adjusting for baseline age, WC, SBP, BMI, and ALT, HR increased slightly in "moderate stable" and "high stable" trajectories to 1.767 (95% CI:0.730-4.275) and 2.668 (95% CI:1.098-6.484), respectively. RCS analysis showed a significant nonlinear dose-response relationship between TyG index and lean NAFLD risk (χ2 = 11.5, P=0.003). The LightGBM model demonstrated high accuracy (Train AUC 0.870, Test AUC 0.766). An online tool based on our model was developed to assist clinicians in assessing lean NAFLD risk.

Conclusion

The TyG index serves as a promising noninvasive marker for lean NAFLD, with significant implications for clinical practice and public health policy.

The triglyceride glucose index trajectory is associated with hypertension: a retrospective longitudinal cohort study

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have found that the triglyceride glucose index (TyG index) trajectories are associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, the association between the patterns of TyG index trajectories and risk for hypertension has not been investigated. In a longitudinal general population, we aimed to identify distinct TyG index trajectories over 12 years and describe their association with incidence of hypertension.

METHOD

Of the 15,056 adults retrospectively recruited from the Physical Examination Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University in northeast of China from 2011 to 2022. TyG index was calculated as ln (fasting TG [mg/dL] × FPG [mg/dL]/2) and the TyG index trajectories were developed using group-based trajectory modelling. Cox regression analysis was accomplished to assess the association between TyG index and incidence of hypertension.

RESULTS

The median age of the population was 38 years, and 7352 (48.83%) of the participants were men. Three distinct TyG index trajectories were identified: "low increasing" (N = 7241), "moderate increasing" (N = 6448), and "high stable" (N = 1367). Using "low increasing" trajectory as a reference, "moderate increasing" and "high stable" trajectory were associated with increased risk of hypertension (HR = 2.45; 95% CI 2.25-2.67 and HR = 3.88; 95% CI 3.48-4.33). After adjusting for baseline sex, age, diabetes, smoking, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood glucose, triglyceride, urea, uric acid, and glomerular filtration rate, the HR were slightly attenuate in "moderate increasing" and "high stable" trajectories to 1.38 (95% CI 1.23-1.54) and 1.69 (95% CI 1.40-2.02) respectively. Meanwhile, similar results were observed in multiple sensitivity analyses. The HR of the "moderate increasing" and "high stable" trajectory groups were 2.63 (95% CI 2.30-3.00) and 4.66 (95% CI 3.66-5.93) in female, and 1.66 (95% CI 1.48-1.86) and 2.33 (95% CI 2.04-2.66) in male.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated TyG index at baseline and long-term TyG index trajectories were associated with the risk of hypertension. Early identification of increasing TyG index could provide insights for preventing hypertension later in life.

Association between the risk of hypertension and triglyceride glucose index in Chinese regions: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of a regional update

Background

Triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index has been reported to be associated with various cardiovascular diseases in recent years. However, the conclusive association between the TyG index and hypertension was not established in the last meta-analysis. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether a linear relationship exists between these two variables.

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive search of the CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, CBM, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library databases up until May 10, 2023, to identify relevant studies conducted in China. We used Stata version 17.0 and Rstudio version 4.2.1 to analyze the data and assess the association between the TyG index and the risk of hypertension, as well as the dose-response relationship between these two variables. We will select either a random-effects model or a fixed-effects model based on the results of the heterogeneity tests and report 95% confidence intervals accordingly.

Results

In the end, our analysis encompassed 22 studies involving a total of 668,486 participants, comprising 12 cross-sectional studies and 10 cohort studies. Meta-analysis results showed: Analysis of data from China revealed that an elevated TyG index was associated with a higher risk of developing hypertension, as indicated by an OR/HR of 1.36 [95%CI (1.28-1.45) I2 = 69.0% P < 0.001]. Through meta-regression analysis of multiple covariates, we found that study type, study region, sample size, database source, and study quality score, the above five variables were able to explain 63.0% of the total heterogeneity. The results of the dose-response Meta-analysis showed: The TyG index has a linear relationship with the risk of developing hypertension, as indicated by non-significant coefficients of higher-order terms in the nonlinear model (P > 0.05). The linear trend analysis showed that for every one-unit increase in the TyG index, the risk of developing hypertension increased by 1.5 times [1.532 95%CI (1.294, 1.813) P < 0.001]. However, this result is influenced by the number of studies included in the dose-response analysis and requires further corroboration.

Conclusion

In the Chinese region, there was an independent association between TyG index and the risk of developing hypertension, with a linear trend. However, the results of the linear trend need to be corrected by the more number of related studies.

Systematic Review Registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023425836.