Diagnostic accuracy of triglyceride/glucose and triglyceride/HDL index as predictors for insulin resistance in children with and without obesity

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate which of two indexes (TyG or TG/HDL) are the best predictors for insulin resistance (IR) and to evaluate the magnitude of each cardiometabolic risk factor in Mexican schoolchildren of 5–9 years with overweight-obesity and normal weight. Material and methodsWe realized a comparative cross-sectional prospective study in accordance of STARD guidelines. Setting was Family Medicine Unit (FMU) No. 80 of Mexican Institute of Social Security(IMSS) of Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. Children between 5 and 9 years, both genders, 104 with normal weight(NW), 97 with Overweight-Obesity(OO Group) were included. Once the informed consent was signed we obtained the BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure(BP) and 5 mL of blood collected for glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, uric acid and insulin. As main outcome measures TyG or TG/HDL, HOMA-IR, and Receiving Operating Curves(ROC), sensitivity, specificity by ROC were obtained. ResultsCutoff point TyG: 8.5 by ROC had an area under curve (AUC):0.802 IC95% 0.77to0.893, P = 0.0001; diagnostic accuracy of 73%. TG/HDL: 2.22; AUC:0.729 IC95% 0.622to0.837, P = 0.014; diagnostic accuracy of 52%. TyG can identify cardiometabolic alterations more than HOMA and TG/HDL. Cardiometabolic alterations in the OO group were hypertriglyceridemia:49.5%, low HDL:63.9%, IR:39.2% and in NW group were hypertriglyceridemia:30.8%, low HDL:60.6%, IR:9.6%. ConclusionsWe reported high frequency of hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL in Mexican children. TyG and TG/HDL are good predictors for IR. TyG has a better diagnostic accuracy. We need implementing TyG for identifying alterations and intervening in a timely manner to delay the onset of chronic diseases in children.