The Association Between the Triglyceride–Glucose Index and the Risk of Diabetic Kidney Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to evaluate the association between the triglyceride–glucose index (TyG) and the risk of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This study included 1347 patients with type 2 diabetes who attended the endocrinology clinic at Jordan University Hospital between May 2025 and October 2025. Medical records were reviewed to identify patients with documented DKD, and the TyG index was calculated for each patient. Results: Our results showed that patients with both late-stage kidney disease (mean 9.47 ± 0.74) and early-stage kidney disease (mean 9.42 ± 0.67) demonstrated elevated TyG index values compared to those without kidney disease (mean 9.27 ± 0.70). In the fully adjusted model, the association remained robust with an OR of 1.611 (95% CI: 1.330–1.951, p < 0.001), indicating that higher TyG index values are independently associated with increased kidney risk even after controlling for major confounding variables. When comparing TyG index quartiles, the second quartile showed no significant difference from the reference group, while the third quartile showed 66% increased odds (OR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.176–2.345, p = 0.004) and the fourth quartile demonstrated 117% increased odds (OR = 2.174, 95% CI: 1.512–3.125, p < 0.001). The association between the TyG index and DKD was more significant in patients younger than 60 years, and in women. In conclusion, the TGI was associated with increased risk of DKD; however, its discriminative ability was modest (AUC 0.57). This indicates that the TGI alone is insufficient as a predictive tool and should be interpreted alongside established screening tools. Prospective studies are needed to clarify its causal role in DKD development.