Assessment of Triglyceride Glucose Index in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and its Correlation with the Disease Severity

CONTEXT: Triglyceride (TG) accumulation and insulin resistance (IR) are the hallmarks of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The triglyceride glucose (TyG) index may serve as an important risk factor for both hepatic steatosis and liver fibrosis in individuals with NAFLD. AIMS: This study was undertaken to assess the TyG index in patients with NAFLD and to study its correlation with the disease severity. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This cross-sectional study spanning over 18 months was conducted in the department of Medicine at a tertiary care teaching hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study enrolled 105 adult NAFLD patients in whom the TyG index was calculated and correlated with serum transaminases and liver elastography measurements. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables, including mean and standard deviation for continuous variables, and frequency and percentage for categorical variables. Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficients were computed to evaluate the relationships between the TyG index and continuous variables such as liver elastography and transaminases. RESULTS: The mean TyG index was 9.34 ± 0.41. A significant and positive correlation was observed between TyG and liver transaminases (aspartate transaminase: r = 0.53 and alanine transaminase: r = 0.46). The mean liver stiffness measurement (LSM) on liver elastography was 6.04 ± 2.54 kPa. A significant positive correlation was observed between TyG and LSM ( r = 0.71). CONCLUSIONS: TyG is an inexpensive, simple, and easily available surrogate marker of IR, which has statistically significant positive correlation with both serum transaminases and LSM. Thus, TyG may serve as a novel biomarker for predicting disease severity in NAFLD patients.