Association between the cholesterol-high-density lipoprotein-glucose (CHG) index and albuminuria risk in diabetic patients

Introduction The Cholesterol-High-Density Lipoprotein-Glucose (CHG) index is a novel composite metabolic biomarker. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between the CHG index and albuminuria prevalence in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A total of 1842 T2DM patients at Jinjiang Municipal Hospital were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Albuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) > 30 mg/g. Multivariable logistic regression, restricted cubic spline modeling, subgroup analyses, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to evaluate the independent association. Results Patients with albuminuria (n=324) had higher CHG index values. After full adjustment, an elevated CHG index was significantly associated with higher odds of albuminuria ( OR=2.097, 95%CI:1.438-3.060, P<0.001 ). Restricted cubic spline analysis revealed a J-shaped nonlinear relationship, with an inflection point at 6.402. The association was more pronounced in patients with hypertension. The CHG index demonstrated an area under curve (AUC) of 63.28% for distinguishing albuminuria, outperforming other metabolic indices. Conclusions The CHG index was nonlinearly associated with albuminuria prevalence in patients with T2DM; however, its cross-sectional design precludes causal inference.