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The following is a summary of “Association of cardiometabolic index with gallstone disease and insulin resistance based on NHANES data,” published in the May 2025 issue of BMC Gastroenterology by Yuan et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to examine the relationship between cardiometabolic index (CMI) and gallstone disease (GSD) as well as its association with insulin resistance (IR) in patients with GSD.  

They performed a restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis to explore the potential nonlinear association and identify the inflection point for the CMI. Based on this inflection point, CMI was categorized, and multivariate logistic regression models, subgroup analyses, and interaction tests were conducted to assess the connection between CMI and GSD, as well as CMI and IR in patients with GSD and IR was assessed using the homeostasis model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR) and triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index. Spearman analysis was used to examine the relationship between CMI and HOMA-IR. The predictive performance of each indicator was evaluated through the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC).   

The results showed that 2,311 individuals participated with a GSD prevalence of 10.90%. The RCS analysis revealed a significant nonlinear positive correlation between CMI and GSD (nonlinear P < 0.001), as well as between CMI and IR (nonlinear P < 0.001). In multivariable logistic regression, individuals in the high-CMI category were at significantly higher risk for GSD (OR = 1.547, 95% CI: 1.143–2.092, P = 0.005) and IR (OR = 4.990, 95% CI: 2.517–9.892, P < 0.001) compared to the low-CMI group. Subgroup analysis showed a stronger correlation between CMI and GSD in females. Spearman correlation indicated a positive association between CMI and HOMA-IR in patients with GSD (r = 0.548, P < 0.001). The ROC curve revealed the predictive performance of the CMI model for GSD (AUC = 0.743), outperforming conventional indicators like Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Circumference (WC), and the CMI model for IR showed similar predictive performance (AUC = 0.772) to the TyG index (AUC = 0.772).  

Investigators concluded that CMI showed a nonlinear positive correlation with the occurrence of GSD and IR, indicating its potential as a new and significant marker for further exploration of the complex links between metabolic syndrome, obesity, and GSD. 

Source: bmcgastroenterol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12876-025-03950-8