Background: The triglyceride/glucose index (TyG) reflects insulin
resistance and predicts the risk of acute ischemic stroke (aIS). However, it is
uncertain if this index predicts the severity and outcome of aIS because studies
that addressed this question are few and all were performed in Asian subjects.
Moreover, there are no studies that focused on patients with
hypercholesterolemia. Methods: We studied
997 Caucasian patients who were hospitalized for aIS and had
hypercholesterolemia. aIS severity was assessed at admission with the National
Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and severe aIS was defined as NIHSS
21. The outcome was assessed with the functional outcome at discharge and
with in-hospital mortality. An unfavorable functional outcome was defined as
modified Rank in scale (mRs) at discharge between 3 and 6. Results: The
TyG index did not correlate with the NIHSS at admission (r = 0.032, p =
NS) and was similar in patients with severe and non-severe aIS (8.7 0.6 and
8.6 0.6, respectively; p = NS). Risk factors for severe aIS were
age, female gender, atrial fibrillation (AF) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP)
at admission. The TyG index also did not correlate with the mRs(r = 0.037,
p = NS) and was similar in patients who had unfavorable and favorable
functional outcome (8.7 0.6 and 8.6 0.5, respectively; p
= NS). Risk factors for unfavorable functional outcome were age, previous ischemic
stroke, body mass index and the NIHSS at admission. The TyG index was similar in
patients who died during hospitalization and patients who were discharged (8.7
0.6 and 8.7 0.6, respectively; p = NS). Risk factors for
in-hospital mortality were AF and DBP and NIHSS at admission.
Conclusions: The TyG index does not appear to be associated with the
severity or the outcome of aIS. Nevertheless, since there are few relevant data
in Caucasians and the TyG index is an inexpensive and widely available biomarker,
more studies in this ethnic group are required to determine the predictive role of
this index in patients with aIS.