학술논문

Triglyceride-glucose index is capable of identifying metabolically obese, normal-weight older individuals
Document Type
Academic Journal
Source
Journal of Physiological Anthropology. February 3, 2024, Vol. 43 Issue 1
Subject
Taiwan
South Korea
Language
English
ISSN
1880-6791
Abstract
Author(s): Bokun Kim[sup.1,2], Keisuke Taniguchi[sup.2,3], Tomonori Isobe[sup.4] and Sechang Oh[sup.2,3,4] Background The rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity worldwide is a major contributor to the rising prevalence of several [...]
Background The concept of metabolically obese, normal weight (MONW) has emerged to describe individuals with a normal body mass index (BMI) who are at a relatively high risk of chronic diseases. However, BMI itself is a suboptimal index for the assessment of the health risks associated with visceral fat. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is considered to be a reliable and cost-effective marker of insulin resistance. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to determine the TyG index cut-off values that could be used to define MONW in older people and to determine the usefulness of these values for the prediction of chronic diseases. Methods A total of 4,721 participants in the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey who were [greater than or equal to] 60 years of age and did not have underweight or obesity were included. MONW was defined using the criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS), and the TyG index was calculated on the basis of the fasting plasma triglyceride and glucose concentrations. Chronic diseases, including T2DM, hypertension, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), were diagnosed. Results The prevalence of MS increased from the lowest to the highest TyG index tertile. The cut-off values of the TyG index for MONW were calculated as 8.88 and 8.80 for males and females, respectively. MONW, defined using these cut-off values, was associated with high odds ratios for NAFLD, T2DM, and hypertension in both males and females. Conclusions The TyG index cut-off values calculated in the present study can be used to discriminate individuals with MONW from other older individuals without obesity and to predict the risk of chronic diseases. These findings show that the TyG index is an effective and cost-efficient method of assessing the risk of chronic diseases in people with MONW. Keywords: Chronic disease, Geriatric population, Metabolically obese but normal weight, Obesity, Triglyceride-glucose index