Positive association between triglyceride glucose index and central systolic blood pressure among hypertensive adults

While studies have suggested the association between triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index, a reliable surrogate for insulin resistance and hypertension data are limited to the correlation of TyG and central blood pressure. This study aims to test the hypothesis that a higher TyG index is associated with elevated central systolic blood pressure (cSBP).

A total of 9249 Chinese hypertensive adults from the H-type Hypertension and Stroke Prevention and Control Project were analyzed in this study. cSBP was measured noninvasively using an A-Pulse CASPro device. TyG index was calculated as ln [fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) × fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2]. Smoothing curve and multivariate linear regression models [beta coefficient (β) with 95% CI] were applied to analyze the association between TyG index and cSBP. Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore potential modifications to such a correlation.

The overall mean TyG index is 8.8 ± 0.7, and the total mean cSBP is 131.3 ± 12.8 mmHg. TyG index was observed to be independently and positively associated with cSBP among the total population (β = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.53-1.31, P < 0.001), and participants who do not use antihypertensive drugs (β = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.46-1.60, P < 0.001), which is in accordance with the result of the smoothing curve. The association between TyG index and cSBP appears robust in all tested subgroups.

TyG index is positively and independently associated with cSBP among hypertensive adults. Our study result suggests that TyG index might serve as an effective marker for vascular function.