ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Metabolic Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1548690
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Crosstalk Between Metabolism and Inflammation in Aging and LongevityView all 5 articles
Association between Triglyceride-Glucose Index and Phenotypic Age Acceleration: A Cross-sectional Study Based on NHANES Database
Provisionally accepted
Zhili Zhao1,2
Yan Liang2,3*- 1Department of Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- 2West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, Chengdu, China
- 3Department of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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Objective: To investigate the association between triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index and phenotypic age acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel), given the emerging importance of biological aging as a health determinant and the role of insulin resistance in aging-related processes.Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 13,291 adults aged ≥20 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2010). The TyG index served as the exposure variable, calculated from fasting triglycerides and glucose levels. PhenoAgeAccel, derived from clinical biomarkers, was the outcome variable. Analyses adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related covariates.Results: A significant non-linear relationship was observed between TyG index and PhenoAgeAccel, with an inflection point at 9.60. In the fully adjusted model, each unit increase in TyG index was associated with 2.21 years increase in PhenoAgeAccel (95% CI: 1.99, 2.43). The association was stronger above the inflection point (β=8.21, 95% CI: 7.59, 8.82) compared to below it (β=0.56, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.83).Conclusion: Higher TyG index levels are significantly associated with accelerated biological aging, particularly above a threshold of 9.60. These findings suggest the importance of metabolic health in biological aging processes and potential interventional strategies.
Keywords: TyG index, Phenotypic age acceleration, Insulin Resistance, metabolic dysfunction, cross-sectional study, NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey)
Received: 20 Dec 2024; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yan Liang, Department of Neurology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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