Objective To explore the predictive value of the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG) and triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) for the occurrence of ischemic stroke.

Methods This was a retrospective study. A total of 280 patients who sought medical treatment at Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Nanjing University from December 2023 to January 2025 were selected as research subjects. According to the results of head magnetic resonance imaging, the patients were divided into stroke group (ischemic stroke, n=102) and control group (no ischemic stroke, n=178). The basic data, laboratory test results, TyG, and TG/HDL-C of the two groups were compared. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis was used to analyze the correlations of TyG, and TG/HDL-C with stroke. Logistic regression analysis was employed to screen the influencing factors of stroke. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to evaluate the predictive efficacy of TyG, TG/HDL-C, and their combination for stroke.

Results The proportions of male patients, smokers, patients with hypertension, and patients with a previous history of cerebral infarction in the stroke group were all higher than those in the control group. The levels of total bilirubin (TB), direct bilirubin (DB), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum creatinine (Cr), triglycerides (TG), apolipoprotein B, TyG, and TG/HDL-C in the stroke group were all higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). RCS analysis results showed that both TyG and TG/HDL-C were positively correlated with stroke. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that higher levels of TyG and TG/HDL-C were independent risk factors for stroke. ROC curve analysis indicated that the combined detection of TyG and TG/HDL-C had a certain predictive value for the onset of stroke.

Conclusion TyG and TG/HDL-C are independent risk factors for ischemic stroke and have a certain predictive value for ischemic stroke.