Diagnostic performance of triglyceride-glucose-based indices for identifying metabolic syndrome in paediatric populations

Valeria Calcaterra; Virginia Rossi; Lucia Labati; Erika Cordaro; Laura Schneider; Alice Colombo; Massimiliano Turzi; Valentina Fabiano; Gianvincenzo Zuccotti

doi:10.1530/endoabs.110.P667

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Endocrine Abstracts (2025) 110 P667 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.110.P667

ECEESPE2025 Poster Presentations MTEabolism, Nutrition and Obesity (125 abstracts)

Diagnostic performance of triglyceride-glucose-based indices for identifying metabolic syndrome in paediatric populations

Valeria Calcaterra^{1, 2}, Virginia Rossi¹, Lucia Labati^{3, 4}, Erika Cordaro^{1, 2}, Laura Schneider¹, Alice Colombo¹, Massimiliano Turzi¹, Valentina Fabiano^{1, 5} & Gianvincenzo Zuccotti^{1, 5}

Author affiliations

¹Buzzi Children’s Hospital, Department of Paediatrics, Milan, Italy; ²University of Pavia, Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, Pavia, Italy; ³Buzzi Children’s Hospital, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Milan, Italy; ⁴University of Milan, Italy, Milano, Italy; ⁵University of Milan, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Milan, Italy

JOINT1907

Aim: Considering the difficulties in directly measuring insulin, various surrogate markers integrating glucose, lipid profiles, and anthropometric measures have been proposed. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the Triglycerides-Glucose Index (TyG), along with TyG-BMI, TyG-waist circumference (WC), and TyG-waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) indices, in identifying metabolic syndrome (MetS) in pediatric populations, in comparison to traditional parameters.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 746 children and adolescents (372 F/374 M) divided into different groups using the BMI z-score. Insulin resistance (IR) surrogates was calculated as: HOMA-IR, TyG, TyG-BMI, TyG-WC, TyG- waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). MetS was defined as the presence of at least 3 of the following components: BMI z-score ≥2 and/or WC/H ratio ≥0. 5; fasting blood glucose>100 mg/dl and/or pathological HOMA-IR according to pubertal stage; dyslipidemia; hypertension.

Results: Overall prevalence of MetS was 15. 01% (112/746). MetS occurred only in children with obesity and overweight (P = 0. 004). The Area under the ROC curve of TyG, TyG-BMI, TyG-WC, TyG-WHtR were 0. 801 (P < 0. 001), 0. 840 (P < 0. 001), 0. 832 (P < 0. 001) and TyG-WHtR 0. 816 (P < 0. 001) respectively, which was similar than that of HOMA-IR 0. 866 (P < 0. 001).

Conclusions: The TyG, TyG-BMI, TyG-WC, and TyG-WHtR indices have shown significant potential in predicting the development of MetS among children and adolescents with overweight or obesity. These indices offer a practical approach for identifying high-risk individuals within otherwise healthy populations. Considering the high cost of insulin sensitivity testing, the triglyceride-glucose product serves as an effective and cost-efficient surrogate marker for evaluating IR in clinical settings.