The triglyceride-glucose index as a predictor of cardiovascular abnormalities in obese patients

Abstract Background Obesity is increasingly regarded as a chronic disease and has contributed significantly to the growth of chronic, non-communicable diseases worldwide, especially cardiovascular disease. Early identification of cardiovascular risk is crucial to reducing mortality and maintaining quality of life because cardiovascular disease is a significant factor in death and disability among obese individuals. It has been demonstrated that the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG) is a valid and readily obtainable metric for assessing insulin resistance (IR) in high-risk individuals. The TyG index has been progressively linked to the onset of CVD and unfavorable outcomes. Consequently, this research aims to utilize the TyG index to assess the dominance of IR in obese individuals and detect early cardiovascular abnormalities in obese patients using standard echocardiography. Furthermore, it determines the predictive significance of the TyG index in identifying cardiovascular risk in obese patients. Methods One hundred obese patients were recruited for the study. Each participant underwent a thorough medical history, physical examination, lipid profile, and blood glucose level assessment, from which the TyG index was calculated. All participants also underwent echocardiograms, and cardiovascular risk was evaluated utilizing the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk and the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) scores. Results According to the TyG, 48 (48%) of the patients had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or IR. The mean (± SD) of the TyG was 8.57 (± 2.19), with a range of 4.33 to 12.25. The TyG can significantly predict cardiovascular risk (ASCVD risk score) ( P < 0.001 and AUC = 0.809) at a cut-off value of > 8.92, with 87.5% sensitivity, 65.79% specificity, 44.7% positive predictive value (PPV), and 94.3% negative predictive value (NPV). Conclusion The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index functions as a valuable tool for evaluating cardiovascular risk.