Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 26, 2024; 12(6): 1094-1103
Published online Feb 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i6.1094
Assessment of the triglyceride glucose index in adult patients with chronic diarrhea and constipation
Jing-Yi Zhu, Mu-Yun Liu, Chang Sun
Jing-Yi Zhu, Chang Sun, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Mu-Yun Liu, Department of Gastroenterology, Navy No. 905 Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Author contributions: All contributors participated in study formulation and design. Zhu JY prepared the initial draft of the manuscript; Liu MY prepared, collected, and analyzed the data; Sun C revised and reviewed the manuscript; the manuscript was accepted for publication after final approval from the authors.
Institutional review board statement: The NHANES is a publicly available database, and this research was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Review Board of the National Center for Health Statistics.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is available in the NHANES repository: NHANES-National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Homepage (cdc.gov).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chang Sun, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, No. 168 Changhai Road, Shanghai 200433, China. sunchang8211@163.com
Received: December 8, 2023
Peer-review started: December 8, 2023
First decision: December 20, 2023
Revised: January 3, 2024
Accepted: January 19, 2024
Article in press: January 19, 2024
Published online: February 26, 2024
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Triglyceride glucose (TyG) was associated with a variety of chronic diseases. However, there is currently a lack of research regarding their association with abnormal gut health.

Research motivation

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) provides national-level data on the health and nutritional status of the United States population. The gut microbiome and pathogenesis of insulin resistance (IR) has been intensively studies using this data. As TyG as a marker of IR, we decided to explore the association between TyG and abnormal gut health using the NHANES database.

Research objectives

To study the association between TyG and the incidence of chronic diarrhea and constipation in United States adults.

Research methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted among adults with complete data on TyG, chronic diarrhea, and constipation included in the 2009-2010 NHANES. TyG was calculated using the following equation: Ln [fasting triglyceride (mg/dL) fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2]. Chronic diarrhea and constipation were assessed using the Bristol Stool Form Scale. Weighted multivariate regression and subgroup analyses were conducted to explore the independent relationship between TyG, chronic diarrhea, and constipation.

Research results

In this cross-sectional study encompassing 2400 participants, our findings demonstrated a heightened risk of chronic diarrhea with elevated TyG levels. The non-linear connection demonstrated that TyG positively correlated with chronic diarrhea and constipation at distinct value bands. Subgroup analysis indicated that this relationship persisted irrespective of sex, age, BMI, hypertension, or diabetes status.

Research conclusions

A total of 2400 participants were included in this cross-sectional study, which revealed a correlation between elevated TyG levels and a heightened risk of chronic diarrhea.

Research perspectives

Further research is required to establish the exact causal relationship between TyG and abnormal gut health, which will contribute to the prediction, co-management, and treatment of subsequent diseases.