Table 1.
Baseline characteristics according to tertiles of fasting triglyceride levels
| Variable | Low tertile (n = 705) | Medium tertile (n = 685) | High tertile (n = 695) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 57.6 [49.5–65.5] | 82.4 [77.1–89.5] | 116 [105.8–130.2] | < 0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus type II diagnosis (%) | 1.8 | 2.9 | 5.5 | < 0.001 |
| Age (years) | 43.3 [37.1–52.9] | 47.2 [39.1–56.4] | 50.7 [42.8–60.8] | < 0.001 |
| Sex (% female) | 57.7 | 57.2 | 57.4 | 0.982 |
| Intoxication | ||||
| Alcohol use (%) | 75.5 | 76.8 | 78.4 | 0.422 |
| Past smoker (%) | 53.5 | 55.3 | 56.0 | 0.622 |
| Constituents of the metabolic syndrome | ||||
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.8 [21.9–26.1] | 25.0 [23.0–27.3] | 26.0 [24.2–28.0] | < 0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 80.5 [73.5–89.0] | 84.0 [77.0–92.0] | 88.0 [81.0–96.5] | < 0.001 |
| Plasma glucose (mmol/L) | 4.6 [4.3–4.9] | 4.6 [4.3–5] | 4.7 [4.4–5.1] | < 0.001 |
| Plasma insulin (mlU/L) | 5.9 [4.5–8.0] | 7.1 [5.2–9.6] | 8.5 [6.4–11.6] | < 0.001 |
| HOMA-IR | 1.2 [0.9–1.7] | 1.4 [1–2] | 1.8 [1.3–2.4] | < 0.001 |
| hsCRP (mg/L) | 0.6 [0.3–1.4] | 0.9 [0.4–2.1] | 1.3 [0.6–2.6] | < 0.001 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 189.5 [170.1–212.7] | 208.8 [184.1–233.2] | 220.4 [197.4–247.5] | < 0.001 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 59.9 [50.7–70.4] | 55.7 [45.6–66.5] | 50.7 [42.9–60.7] | < 0.001 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 123.3 [106–146.5] | 142.9 [121.7–166.8] | 160.3 [135.2–186.2] | < 0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 117.0 [109.0–129.0] | 121.0 [111.0–134.0] | 127.0 [116.0–140.0] | < 0.001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 70.0 [63.0–76.0] | 71.0 [66.0–78.0] | 74.0 [68.0–80.0] | < 0.001 |
| Renal function | ||||
| Serum creatinine (mmol/L) | 69.6 [61–77.2] | 69.6 [61–79.3] | 70.7 [62.1–80.4] | 0.022 |
| eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m2) | 103.0 [91.7–111.4] | 99.3 [89.5–108.6] | 94.8 [84.1–106] | < 0.001 |
| Urinary albumin concentration (mg/L) | 5.5 [3.7–9.5] | 5.9 [3.7–10.8] | 6.1 [3.5–11.4] | 0.168 |
| Medication use | ||||
| Antihypertensives use (%) | 6.1 | 8.9 | 11.4 | = 0.002 |
Normally distributed continuous variables are presented as mean ± SD, skewed continuous variables are expressed as median [IQR], categorical data are given as n (%). In order to evaluate the presence of statistically significant differences between the tertiles, χ2-test was used for categorical variables, Kruskall-Wallis test for skewed variables and one way ANOVA for variables with a normal distribution