Triglyceride to HDL Cholesterol Ratio and Cardiovascular Events in Diabetics with Coronary Artery Disease

• Published in: The American journal of the medical sciences 2017
• Main Authors: Yang, Sheng-Hua, MD, Du, Ying, PhD, Li, Xiao-Lin, MD, Zhang, Yan, MD, Li, Sha, MD, Xu, Rui-Xia, PhD, Zhu, Cheng-Gang, MD, Guo, Yuan-Lin, MD, Wu, Na-Qiong, MD, Qing, Ping, MS, Gao, Ying, MD, Cui, Chuan-Jue, MS, Dong, Qian, MS, Sun, Jing, MS, Li, Jian-Jun, MD, PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Internal Medicine
• ISSN: 0002-9629
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjms.2017.03.032

Abstract Introduction It has been demonstrated that elevated triglycerides (TG) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio is a risk factor of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and is also found to be associated with cardiovascular events (CVEs) in general population. However, its prognostic value in T2DM patients with CAD remains to be determined. Methods A total of 1,447 consecutive T2DM patients with angiographic-proven stable CAD were enrolled in the present study and followed up for an average of 20.3 months. The characteristics of all patients including fasting lipid profile were obtained at baseline and multivariate Cox-proportional hazards models were constructed using log TG/HDL-C as a predictor variable. The relationships between CVEs and total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), non-HDL-C, TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and apoB/apoAI were also explored. Results Compared with the patients without CVEs, the ones who experienced CVEs had higher TG/HDL-C ratio. Univariable regression revealed a significant association of log TG/HDL-C with CVEs (hazard ratio [HR] =2.5, p=0.015). After adjusting for multiple traditional risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the association was still found (HR=2.47, p=0.047). Moreover, results suggested that the ratios of non–HDL-C, TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C and apoB/apoAI were not predictors for CVEs in T2DM. Conclusions In our primary study data suggested that elevated TG/HDL-C value might be a useful predictor for future CVEs in Chinese T2DM patients with stable CAD. Further study is needed to confirm our findings.