Triglyceride-glucose index and remnant cholesterol in acute ischemic stroke - a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: The association between insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) remains unclear. To explore their relationship and elucidate potential biomarkers for stroke management, we investigated the association between the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG index) and remnant cholesterol (RC) in patients with AIS.

Material and methods: A total of 116 patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and admitted to the Xiong'an New District Rongcheng People's Hospital between December 2022 and June 2023 were randomly chosen for this study. Patients were categorized into three groups based on either the TyG index or RC tertiles. To assess the association between the TyG index and RC, Spearman's rank correlation analysis was conducted. Additionally, ANOVA was utilized to compare the levels of RC across different TyG index tertiles. To determine if RC could serve as a potential explanatory variable of the TyG index and vice versa, multiple linear regression analysis was employed. Furthermore, ordinal logistic regression analysis was carried out to explore the relationships among the TyG index, RC, and AIS severity.

Results: Spearman's rank correlation analysis showed that the TyG index was positively correlated with RC (r = 0.645, p < 0.0001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that RC was associated with the TyG index (β = 0.695, p < 0.001) and vice versa (β = 0.212,p = 0.008). Ordinal logistic regression analysis indicated that RC was positively associated with AIS severity (estimate = 0.713, p = 0.038).

Conclusions: There is a strong correlation between the TyG index and RC in patients with AIS. In addition, RC was positively associated with the severity of AIS. The results of this study may promote a more comprehensive understanding of the association between insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in AIS.