A study shows that higher triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, a surrogate marker of insulin resistance, is correlated with an increased risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The findings were published in Cardiovascular Diabetology.

This study comprised 12,320 participants from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study with a history of PAD at baseline. Incident PAD was defined in this study as the first hospitalization with PAD diagnosis or a new onset of measured ABI<0.90 during follow-up visits.

The results showed that after a median follow-up of 23 years, 1,300 participants developed PAD. After adjusting for PAD risk factors, each 1-standard deviation increase in TyG index was linked with an 11.9% higher risk of incident PAD (HR=1.119; 95% CI, 1.049-1.195). Results were similar when individuals were categorized by TyG index quartiles (HR=1.239, 95% CI, 1.028-1.492).

Compared with those with a TyG index trajectory at a low level, those participants with TyG index trajectories at high and very high levels had an even greater risk of future incident PAD, the researchers noted.

Higher TyG index is independently associated with an increased risk of incident PAD,” the researchers concluded. They added that “long-term trajectories of TyG index help identify individuals at a higher risk of PAD who deserve specific preventive and therapeutic approaches.”

The findings were published in Cardiovascular Diabetology.

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34167539/

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease, Insulin resistance, Peripheral artery disease, Risk factors, Triglyceride-glucose index