Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment: Triglyceride/High-Density Lipoprotein versus Metabolic Syndrome Criteria

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Preventive Medicine
• Biomarkers

Background:

• Identifying individuals at risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) using metabolic syndrome (MetS) criteria can be time-consuming for clinicians.
• This study compares the effectiveness of the triglyceride (TG)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio against MetS criteria for high-risk individual identification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the TG/HDL-C ratio as an alternative to MetS criteria in identifying individuals at elevated cardiovascular risk.
• To compare the predictive performance of TG/HDL-C ratios with established MetS criteria for CVD events.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, longitudinal, population-based cohort study involving adults aged 35 years and older.
• Hazard ratios (HR) for CVD events were estimated using TG/HDL-C ratios and MetS criteria over a 10-year follow-up period.
• Akaike's Information Criteria (AIC) were employed to assess model fit and prediction error.

Main Results:

• The TG/HDL-C ratio, with cut-off points of 3.76 and 4.42, demonstrated a strong predictive value for CVD events, though it was less effective than MetS criteria.
• Individuals identified as high-risk by MetS criteria exhibited the highest unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios for CVD events.
• The optimal predictive model incorporated adjustments for sex, age, diabetes, total cholesterol, smoking status, diet, physical activity, and BMI.

Conclusions:

• Metabolic syndrome criteria are a superior marker for identifying patients at cardiovascular risk compared to the TG/HDL-C ratio.
• The TG/HDL-C ratio possesses significant predictive value and can be considered for cardiovascular risk assessment when appropriate.