Correlation between the triglyceride-glucose index and the onset of atrial fibrillation in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Yao Zhang; Leigang Wang; Jiaxin Qi; Bing Yu; Jianqi Zhao; Lin Pang; Wenjing Zhang; Liang Bin

doi:10.1186/s13098-023-01012-1

Correlation between the triglyceride-glucose index and the onset of atrial fibrillation in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Diabetol Metab Syndr. 2023 May 9;15(1):94. doi: 10.1186/s13098-023-01012-1.

Authors

Yao Zhang^#^{1

2}, Leigang Wang^#^{1

2}, Jiaxin Qi¹, Bing Yu^{1

2}, Jianqi Zhao^{1

2}, Lin Pang¹, Wenjing Zhang^{1

2}, Liang Bin³

Affiliations

¹ Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030000, Shanxi, China.
² Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 382 Wuyi Road, Taiyuan, 030000, Shanxi, China.
³ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 382 Wuyi Road, Taiyuan, 030000, Shanxi, China. tyliangbin@163.com.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with atrial fibrillation (AF). Insulin resistance (IR) is the main cause of the high prevalence of AF in NAFLD patients. The triglyceride-glucose index (TyG) is a novel IR-related indicator implicated in the incidence and severity of NAFLD. However, the role of TyG in determining the risk for AF in patients with NAFLD remains unclear.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 912 patients diagnosed with NAFLD via ultrasonography. These patients were divided into two groups: (1) NAFLD+ AF and (2) NAFLD+ non-AF. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression was used to assess the correlation between the TyG index and the high risk for AF. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the predictive value for the TyG index for AF. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to test the linear correlation between TyG and the risk for AF.

Results: A total of 204 patients with AF and 708 patients without AF were included in this study. The LASSO logistic regression analysis showed that TyG was an independent risk factor for AF (odds ratio [OR] = 4.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.98-7.88, P < 0.001). The RCS showed that the risk for AF increased linearly with TyG over the entire TyG range; this risk was also evident when the patients were analyzed based on sex (P for nonlinear > 0.05). In addition, the correlation between TyG and AF was a consistent finding in subgroup analysis. Furthermore, ROC curve analysis showed that TyG levels combined with traditional risk factors improved the predictive value for atrial fibrillation.

Conclusion: The TyG index is useful in assessing the risk for atrial fibrillation in patients with NAFLD. Patients with NAFLD and increased TyG indices have higher risks for atrial fibrillation. Therefore, TyG indices should be assessed when managing patients with NAFLD.

Keywords: Arrhythmia; Atrial fibrillation; Insulin resistance; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Triglyceride-glucose index.

Abstract

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