Association of triglyceride–glucose index with coronary severity and mortality in patients on dialysis with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND: The triglyceride–glucose (TyG) index is validated as a reliable biomarker of insulin resistance and an independent predictor of cardiovascular prognosis. However, the prognostic value of the TyG index in patients on dialysis with coronary artery disease (CAD) remained unexplored. This study aimed to determine the association between the TyG index and CAD severity and mortality in these patients. METHODS: A total of 1061 dialysis patients with CAD were enrolled in this multi-center cohort study from January 2015 to June 2021. The extent and severity of CAD were evaluated using the multivessel disease and Gensini score (GS). Patients were followed up for all-cause death and cardiovascular death. RESULTS: The multivariable logistic regression model indicated that the TyG index was significantly associated with multivessel disease (odds ratio [OR] 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18–1.94, P = 0.001), and high GS (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.10–1.61, P = 0.003). After adjusting for baseline risk factors, the hazards of all-cause death and cardiovascular death were 1.23 (95% CI 1.06–1.43, P = 0.007), and 1.33 (95% CI 1.11–1.59, P = 0.002), independent of CAD severity. Restricted cubic spline analysis identified a dose–response association between the TyG index and both CAD severity and mortality (all P for nonlinearity > 0.05). When modeling the TyG index as a categorical variable, these independent associations remained. Subgroup analyses did not substantially modify the results. Furthermore, incorporating the TyG index into the existing risk prediction model improved the predictive accuracy for all-cause death and cardiovascular death, as evaluated by C-statistic, continuous net reclassification improvement, and integrated discrimination improvement. CONCLUSIONS: In patients on dialysis with CAD, the TyG index was significantly associated with more severe CAD as well as mortality. These results highlight the clinical importance of the TyG index for assessing CAD severity and risk stratification in patients on dialysis with CAD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40001-023-01410-1.