Background: It has been reported that the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index may serve as a simple and credible surrogate marker of insulin resistance (IR). However, its association with macrovascular and microvascular damage is unclear. Accordingly, the objective of the present study is to investigate the association of macrovascular and microvascular damage with the TyG index. Methods: A total of 2830 elderly participants from the Northern Shanghai Study (NSS) were enrolled. The TyG index was calculated as ln[fasting triglycerides (mg/dL) × fasting glucose (mg/dL)/2]. Parameters of vascular damage, including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV), ankle-brachial index (ABI), carotid intima-media thickness (CMT), carotid plaque, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), were measured and calculated. Results: In univariate logistic regression, an increased TyG index was associated with a higher risk of cf-PWV > 10 m/s, ba-PWV > 1800 cm/s, ABI < 0.9, microalbuminuria (MAU) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). In multivariable logistic regression, there was a significant increase in the risk of cf-PWV > 10 m/s (OR = 1.86, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.37-2.53, P for trend < 0.001), ba-PWV > 1800 cm/s (OR = 1.39, [95% CI] 1.05-1.84, P for trend = 0.02), MAU (OR = 1.61, [95% CI] 1.22-2.13, P for trend < 0.001) and CKD (OR = 1.67, [95% CI] 1.10-1.50, P for trend = 0.02) after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, waist circumference, smoking habit, hypertension, family history of premature CVD, diabetes, HDL-C, LDL-C, insulin therapy and statin therapy. However, no significant relationship was observed between the TyG index and lower extremity atherosclerosis, carotid hypertrophy or carotid plaque. Conclusion: An elevated TyG index was significantly associated with a higher risk of arterial stiffness and nephric microvascular damage. This conclusion lends support to the clinical significance of the TyG index for the assessment of vascular damage.

Circular RNA (circRNA), a novel type of endogenous noncoding RNA (ncRNA), has become a research hotspot in recent years. CircRNAs are abundant and stably exist in creatures, and they are found with covalently closed loop structures in which they are quite different from linear RNAs. Nowadays, an increasing number of scientists have demonstrated that circRNAs may have played an essential role in the regulation of gene expression, especially acting as miRNA sponges, and have described the potential mechanisms of several circRNAs in diseases, hinting at their clinical therapeutic values. In this review, the authors summarized the current understandings of the biogenesis and properties of circRNAs and their functions and role as biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases.

BackgroundCarotid‐femoral pulse‐wave velocity (cf‐PWV) and brachial‐ankle PWV (ba‐PWV) are the 2 most frequently applied PWV measurements. However, little is known about the comparison of hypertensive target organ damage (TOD) with cf‐PWV and ba‐PWV.Methods and ResultsA total of 1599 community‐dwelling elderly subjects (age >65 years) in northern Shanghai were recruited from June 2014 to August 2015. Both cf‐PWV and ba‐PWV were measured using SphygmoCor and VP1000 systems, respectively. Within the framework of comprehensive cardiovascular examinations, risk factors were assessed, and asymptomatic TOD, including left ventricular mass index, peak transmitral pulsed Doppler velocity/early diastolic tissue Doppler velocity (E/Ea), carotid intima‐media thickness, arterial plaque, creatinine clearance rate, and urinary albumin‐creatinine ratio were all evaluated. Both PWVs were significantly associated with male sex, age, waist/hip circumference, fasting plasma glucose, and systolic blood pressure, and ba‐PWV was also significantly related to body mass index. Both PWVs were significantly correlated with most TOD. When cf‐PWV and ba‐PWV were both or separately put into the stepwise linear regression model together with cardiovascular risk factors and treatment, only cf‐PWV, but not ba‐PWV, was significantly associated with carotid intima‐media thickness and creatinine clearance rate (P<0.05). When cf‐PWV and ba‐PWV were both or separately put into the same full‐mode model after adjustment for confounders, only cf‐PWV, but not ba‐PWV, showed significant association with carotid intima‐media thickness and creatinine clearance rate (P<0.05). Similar results were observed in logistic regression analysis.ConclusionsTaken together, in the community‐dwelling elderly Chinese, cf‐PWV seems to be more closely associated with hypertensive TOD, especially vascular and renal TOD, as compared with ba‐PWV.Clinical Trial RegistrationURL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02368938.