Endocrine Abstracts

Background and Aim: The triglyceride glucose (TyG) index has been proposed as a marker of insulin resistance. This study aims to evaluate the utility of the TyG index in routine practice for predicting diabetes, prediabetes, and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in obese individuals.

Methods: The study retrospectively analyzed data from obese individuals at our outpatient clinic. The study recorded patient characteristics such as age, gender, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin, lipid profile, HbA1c, ALT, AST, vitamin D levels, and platelet counts. Additionally, the body mass index (BMI), Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), AST/Platelet Ratio Index (APRI), Fibrosis-4 Index (FIB-4), TyG Index, and TyG-BMI Index scores were calculated to establish the database.

Results: A total of 299 patients were examined in this study. The mean age of the patients was 37.53±11.46 years, with 49.5% (148) female, and the mean BMI was found to be 44.16±6.81 kg/m². The mean HbA1c values were 5.98±1.02 and the mean TyG index values were 4.75±0.29. Patients were divided into three groups based on their HbA1c values, namely normal, pre-diabetic, and diabetic, and were compared in terms of TyG index values. In post-hoc analysis, patients with diabetes had statistically significantly higher TyG index scores compared to both the pre-diabetic and normal groups (P<0.001, P<0.001, respectively). Additionally, patients with pre-diabetes had statistically significantly higher TyG index scores compared to the normal group (P<0.001). According to the results of Pearson correlation analysis, the TyG index score showed a positive correlation with metabolic parameters such as APRI (r=0.245, P<0.001), HOMA-IR (r=0.306, P<0.001), LDL (r=0.243, P<0.001), and HbA1c (r=0.475, P<0.001), while it exhibited a negative correlation with HDL (r=-0.313, P<0.001). No statistically significant relationship was observed between FIB-4 index and TyG index score (r=0.086, P=0.146). In the stepwise regression analysis, with HbA1c as the dependent variable and age and TyG index as independent variables, the model revealed that TyG index score (β =0.449, P<0.001) and age (β =0.223, P<0.001) significantly predicted HbA1c levels.

Conclusion: The TyG index appears to be a practical parameter that can be used in daily practice, offering ease of use and lower cost. It seems to be a convenient method for the early assessment of the risk of diabetes development and the potential presence of MAFLD in obese individuals.