High Triglyceride-Glucose Index Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a common gastrointestinal disease worldwide. Severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is characterized as persistent organ failure with a mortality rate as high as 20-30%. Early assessment of the severity and screening out possible SAP is of great significance. Given that there is still a lack of both convenient and practical tools for evaluating SAP, we conducted this study to explore the association between TyG index and acute pancreatitis prognosis.

A total of 353 in-patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis in the Second Hospital of Shandong University were retrospectively enrolled from January 2018 to November 2021 in this study. According to the Atlanta Classification, they were divided into two groups based on the AP severity. Demographic information and clinical materials were retrospectively collected. The TyG index calculation formula is as follows: ln [fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) × fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL)/2]. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software (IBM version 22.0) and Medcalc software. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to investigate independent predictors for SAP. ROC curve was plotted to assess the predictive ability and cutoffs of TyG index.

A total of 353 AP patients were respectively enrolled in this study, of which 47 suffered from SAP. Compared with the non-SAP group, TyG index was significantly higher in the SAP group (10.44 ± 1.55 vs 9.33 ± 1.44, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that TyG index was an independent risk factor for SAP (OR 1.835, 95% CI 1.380-2.442 P < 0.001), with a cutoff of 8.76 for non-HTG/AAP and 11.81 for HTG/AAP by ROC curve. TyG index of patients who suffered from SIRS, OF, APFC, and ANC was higher than those without (P < 0.05).

The triglyceride-glucose index is an independent risk factor for SAP. High TyG index is closely related to SAP and AP-related complications.