The triglyceride-glucose index as a surrogate measure to assess glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients.

Background: It has been revealed that the potential utility of the triglycerides and glucose (TyG) index as an effective option for assessing glycemic control; however, evidence in this field is still scarce.

Aims: The goal of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of the TyG index, as an alternative option, to detect inadequate glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: Men and women between 30 and 60 years of age diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were included in a cross-sectional study. Exclusion criteria were smoking, alcohol intake, pregnancy, type 1 diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases, active infections, kidney disease, and incomplete data. According to the glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) concentration, patients were allocated into the groups with optimal (< 7.0%) and deficient (≥ 7.0%) glycemic control.

Results: In total, 129 patients aged 51.1 ± 6.6 years were included in this study. The logistic regression analysis adjusted by age, sex, body mass index, waist circumference, and time of diabetes diagnosis revealed that the TyG index is strongly associated with deficient glycemic control (OR = 86.6; 95% CI: 12.9 - 576.9). The best cut-off point of the TyG index for identifying inadequate glucose control was 4.93, which showed the highest sensitivity (80%) and specificity (67%) values. Additionally, the positive and negative predictive values were 71% and 74%, while the positive and negative likelihood ratios were 1.68 and 0.41, respectively.

Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that the TyG index may be used as an optional test for assessing glycemic control in patients with T2D.