Association between cardiometabolic index and atherosclerotic progression in patients with peripheral arterial disease

BACKGROUND: Cardiometabolic index (CMI), calculated as a product of waist-to-height ratio and triglycerides-to-HDL cholesterol ratio, is a new index for discriminating diabetes mellitus. Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are prone to have other atherosclerotic diseases such as coronary artery disease and stroke. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships between CMI and indicators of atherosclerotic progression in patients with PAD.

METHODS: The subjects were 63 outpatients with PAD. Relationships of CMI with variables related to atherosclerotic progression were investigated using multivariate linear regression analysis and analysis of covariance with adjustment for age, sex and histories of smoking and alcohol drinking.

RESULTS: Log-transformed CMI was significantly correlated with mean intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (IMT) (standardized regression coefficient: 0.350, p < 0.01) and % decrease in ankle-brachial systolic pressure index (ABI) after treadmill exercise (standardized regression coefficient: 0.365, p < 0.01). Mean IMT and % decrease in ABI by treadmill exercise were significantly higher (p < 0.01) in the group of the 3rd tertile for CMI than in the group of its 1st tertile (mean +/- SE: mean IMT (mm), 0.94 +/- 0.06 (1st tertile) vs. 0.94 +/- 0.06 (2nd tertile) vs. 1.19 +/- 0.06 (3rd tertile); % decrease in ABI, 14.1 +/- 3.4 [1st tertile] vs. 26.0 +/- 3.5 [2nd tertile] vs. 30.0 +/- 3.5 [3rd tertile]).

CONCLUSION: CMI was shown to be associated with the degrees of atherosclerosis in the common carotid artery and ischemia in leg arteries and is therefore a useful discriminator of atherosclerotic progression in patients with PAD.