Atherogenic index of plasma is associated with major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Previous studies reported the prognostic value of the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) in the course of atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Still, the predictive utility of the AIP is unknown among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study, which randomized 10,251 patients with long-lasting T2DM. ROC curve analysis was used to determine an optimal threshold for AIP, and the study population was divided into high and low AIP groups. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to determine the association between AIP and primary (major adverse cardiovascular events [MACEs], including nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, and/or death from cardiovascular causes) and secondary outcomes (all-cause mortality). Stratified analyses were performed to control for the confounding factors. RESULTS: AIP was an independent risk factor for the prognosis of T2DM (HR = 1.309; 95% CI 1.084–1.581; P = 0.005). The threshold for AIP was determined to be 0.34 in the study population. After adjustments for confounding factors, multivariable analysis showed that AIP was associated with the risk of MACEs (Model 1: HR = 1.333, 95% CI 1.205–1.474, P < 0.001; Model 2: HR = 1.171, 95% CI 1.030–1.333, P = 0.016; Model 3: HR = 1.194, 95% CI 1.049–1.360, P = 0.007), all-cause mortality (Model 1: HR = 1.184, 95% CI 1.077–1.303, P < 0.001), cardiovascular death (Model 1: HR = 1.422, 95% CI 1.201–1.683, P < 0.001; Model 3: HR = 1.264, 95% CI 1.015–1.573, P = 0.036), and nonfatal myocardial infarction (Model 1: HR = 1.447, 95% CI 1.255–1.669, P < 0.001; Model 2: HR = 1.252, 95% CI 1.045–1.499, P = 0.015; Model 3: HR = 1.284, 95% CI 1.071–1.539, P = 0.007). Subgroup stratified analyses showed that AIP might interact with sex, a classical risk factor of cardiovascular events. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that AIP might be a strong biomarker that could be used to predict the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with T2DM. Trial registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00000620. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12933-021-01393-5.