Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To study the role of the triglyceride glucose (TyG) index as a novel biomarker in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) developing acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, case-control study conducted over 1 year with a sample size of 175 T2DM subjects divided into cases and controls at a ratio of 2:5 (50 cases: T2DM with ACS, 125 controls: T2DM without ACS). The TyG index was calculated using the formula Ln [fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) × fasting plasma glucose (mg (dL)/2]. RESULT: In this study, nearly half of the patients had ST-elevation myocardial infarction with a male preponderance. The TyG index was significantly higher in the ACS group. Body mass index, fasting blood sugar, serum cholesterol, and serum urea levels were significantly higher in the cases. The TyG index showed a strong correlation with ACS, and linear regression analysis identified it as the strongest risk factor for ACS in these patients, with a cutoff value of 8.9, providing 99% sensitivity and specificity. Interestingly, high-sensitivity CRP levels were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The TyG index, derived from fasting triglycerides and blood glucose, is a simple and cost-effective marker for insulin resistance (IR) and cardiovascular risks. It is comparable to other markers in predicting conditions such as coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerosis and can be incorporated into the routine clinical evaluation of T2DM patients to predict the risk of ACS, which remains a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in T2DM.