Triglyceride glucose index, a marker of insulin resistance, is associated with coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic subjects with type 2 diabetes

Background: Insulin resistance is one of the most important contributing factors to cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the association between coronary artery stenosis (CAS) and triglyceride glucose index (TyG index), a simple insulin resistance marker, in asymptomatic subjects with type 2 diabetes. Methods: We recruited asymptomatic adults with type 2 diabetes but without previous history of coronary heart disease (n = 888). Significant CAS was defined as maximum intraluminal stenosis >= 70 % by coronary CT angiography. TyG index was calculated as log [fasting triglycerides (mg/dl) x fasting glucose (mg/dl)/2]. Results: Mean age was 63.8 +/- 9.5 and 58.9 % of the subjects were men. We analyzed the participants according to the tertile of TyG index. The TyG index was correlated with HOMA-IR (r = 0.397, P < 0.001), and subjects with higher tertile of TyG index were younger but showed worse clinical and metabolic parameters. The prevalence of CAS was higher in subjects with higher tertile of TyG compared with those with lower tertile of TyG (14 % vs. 7.8 %, P = 0.022). On multiple regression analysis, the highest tertile of TyG index was an independent risk factor for CAS after adjustment for other confounders (odds ratio, 3.19 [95 % CI, 1.371-7.424]). Subgroup analysis showed that TyG index showed more significant association with CAS in patients with risk factors such as old age, longer duration of diabetes, poor glycemic control, no statin use, and male gender. Conclusion: Higher TyG index is associated with increased risk of CAS in asymptomatic subjects with type 2 diabetes, particularly when they have risk factors for cardiovascular disease.