Triglyceride-glucose index as a potential biomarker for predicting retinal vein occlusion

The relationship between the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index calculated using fasting blood glucose and triglyceride values ​​was evaluated among 62 patients diagnosed with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and 57 healthy volunteers. Patients were classified as having branch (BRVO) or central (CRVO) retinal vein occlusion. The mean age was 64.6 ± 12.4 in the BRVO group of 35 patients, 65.2 ± 13.0 in the CRVO group of 27 patients, and 62.8 ± 12.5 in the control group (p = 0.7). The frequency of hypertension was significantly higher in both CRVO and BRVO groups (p = 0.002). Fasting blood glucose and triglyceride were significantly higher and HDL-C was significantly lower in BRVO and CRVO patients compared to the control group (p = 0.003, p < 0.001, p = 0.005). TyG index were found to be significantly higher in patients with BRVO and CRVO (9.0 ± 0.5) compared to the control group (8.4 ± 0.4) (p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that TyG index independently predicted BRVO (odds ratio = 4.53; 95% confidence interval = 1.78-11.55; p = 0.002) and any RVO (odds ratio = 6.82; 95% confidence interval = 2.75-16.90; p < 0.001). In receiver operating characteristics analysis, TyG index had an area under the curve of 0.785, and a TyG index greater than 8.85 predicted any RVO with 65% sensitivity and 82% specificity (p < 0.001). There is a significant association between high levels of TyG index and, in particular, both BRVO and any RVO. The TyG index can be a valuable biomarker in identifying individuals at risk of RVO.