Triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio is superior to triglycerides and other lipid ratios as an indicator of increased urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio in the general population of China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia contributes to the pathogenesis of renal dysfunction. Previous research demonstrated that triglycerides (TG), instead of other individual lipid indexes, has a significant link with elevated urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR). However, it is unclear whether lipid ratios are superior indicators of increased UACR compared with TG. This research is to determine whether there are close relationships of lipid ratios with UACR in a general population. METHODS: 35,751 participants from seven centers across China were enrolled. UACR equal or higher than 30 mg/g was recognized as increased albuminuria. The associations of TG, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)/ high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), TG/HDL-C and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C)/HDL-C with increased UACR were evaluated by linear and logistic regression analyses in females and males separately. RESULTS: There were 3692 (14.8%) female subjects, and 1307 (12.0%) male subjects characterized as having increased UACR. There were significantly differences in TG/HDL-C and non-HDL-C/HDL-C between the normal UACR group and the increased UACR group, while LDL-C/HDL-C was not. Furthermore, linear regression analysis was implemented and showed that TG and TG/HDL-C were both positively related to UACR even after a variety of potential confounders were adjusted regardless of sexes, while the correlation between non-HDL-C/HDL-C and elevated UACR were only significant in females. Further analyses utilizing logistic regression demonstrated that compared with non-HDL-C/HDL-C and TG, TG/HDL-C showed the strongest association with increased UACR (quartile 1 of TG/HDL-C as a reference; OR [95% CI] of quartile 4: 1.28 [1.13–1.44] in women, 1.24 [1.02–1.50] in men) after fully adjusting for potential confounding factors. Stratified analyses revealed that in males who were overweight and in females who were overweight or over 55 years or had prediabetes or prehypertension, TG/HDL-C had significant associations with abnormal UACR. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with TG and other routine lipid ratios, TG/HDL-C is a superior indicator for increased UACR. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12944-021-01442-8.