Association between the TyG/HDL-C ratio and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a single-centre retrospective study.

Abstract

Background: Triglyceride-glucose index to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (TyG/HDL-C ratio) is a novel surrogate indicator for insulin resistance. However, the predictive value of TyG/HDL-C ratio for the presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between TyG/HDL-C ratio and NAFLD in health check-up populations from China.

Methods: A total of 1592 participants aged ≥ 40 years were included. Patients were divided into three groups according to the tertiles of TyG/HDL-C ratio, the indicators were compared among the three groups. The univariate linear regression model and the multivariate models were performed to investigate the association between TyG/HDL-C ratio and NAFLD. Smoothed curve fit analysis was used to explore the linear or non-linear relationship between TyG/HDL-C ratio and NAFLD. The modification and interaction of subgroups were inspected by the likelihood ratio test.

Results: After adjusting for confounders, there was a non-linear relationship between TyG/HDL-C ratio and NAFLD. The inflection point was 10.0. When TyG/HDL-C ratio < 10.0, the relationship was as (OR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.13 to 1.33, P < 0.0001) ,while when ≥ 10.0, the association was not statistically significant (OR = 0.89, 95%CI: 0.80 to 1.00, P = 0.0553). Subgroup analysis suggested that no significant interactions were observed. TyG/HDL-C ratio presented moderate discriminative capacity for NAFLD.

Conclusions: We discovered that there was a non-linear positive association between TyG/HDL-C ratio and NAFLD. When TyG/HDL-C ratio was less than 10.0, a positive association was found.