Triglyceride-Glucose Index Correlate With Telomere Length in Healthy Adults From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

AimThe present investigation was designed to test the association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and two simple markers of insulin resistance, that is, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index in U.S. adults without metabolic diseases. MethodsA total of 6489 U.S. adults without diabetes from NHANES 1999-2002 were analyzed. TyG index was calculated as ln [fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) x fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2]. HOMA-Index was calculated as fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L) x fasting serum insulin (mU/mL)/22.5. LTL was obtained using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Multivariate linear regression analysis was assessed to evaluate the association of TyG index HOMA-IR with LTL. We further conducted a generalized additive model (GAM) and a fitted smoothing curve with penalized spline method. ResultsIt was found that the mean LTL was 5796.1 bp in the measured healthy adults. Overall, TyG index was significantly associated with LTL, while HOMA-IR was not. Compared with participants in tertile 1 of the TyG index, the beta (95% CI) for those in the second (8.27 to 8.77) and third (>= 8.77) were -4.31 (95% CI: -48.12~39.49) and -95.98 (95% CI: -145.08~-46.89), respectively. Subjects with TyG index >= 8.77 had statistically significant shorter LTL (beta = -93.33, 95%CI: -134.33~-52.32), compared with TyG index < 8.77. We further explored a dose-response relation between TyG index by a decile approach [<= 7.81 (reference), 7.81-8.04, 8.04-8.21, 8.21-8.37, 8.37-8.52, 8.52-8.68, 8.68-8.83, 8.83-9.03, 9.03-9.33, and >9.33] and LTL. Five subgroups (TyG index 7.81-8.04, 8.04-8.21, 8.21-8.37, 8.37-8.52, and 8.52-8.68) did not show significant effect on LTL; while there was a significantly shorter LTL for participants with the TyG index > 8.68, supporting a threshold effect of TyG index on LTL. ConclusionsThe results suggested that higher TyG index (> 8.68) was closely related to shorter LTL and the TyG index was better associated with LTL than HOMA-IR.

Automated summary

The study found that higher TyG index was closely associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL), and the TyG index was better correlated with LTL than the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).