Association between fasting blood glucose and intracranial cerebral artery stenosis: a secondary analysis based on a retrospective cross-sectional study in Korean adults

Abstract
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the main risk factors for intracranial cerebral artery stenosis (ICAS), and fasting blood glucose (FBG) might be an effective predictor of ICAS. However, there are a few studies revealing the relationship between FBG and ICAS. We aim to identify the association between FBG and ICAS in Koreans. This was a secondary study based on a cross-sectional study. A total of 1011 Korean individuals who were asymptomatic but with high cerebrovascular risk underwent an examination in a Korean medical centre from March 2008 to December 2014. The main measure was FBG, while the main outcome was ICAS. Multivariate logistic regression analyses of FBG in the presence of ICAS were performed to examine the potential association. The author used the data provided by the paper “Association between Serum Alkaline Phosphatase Level and Cerebral Small Vessel Disease” for secondary analysis. The average age of the participants was 64.2 ± 9.1 years old, and approximately 35% of them were males. There were 24 participants suffering from ICAS in the first FBG tertile (< 5.4 mmol/L), while there were 26 in the second tertile (5.4–7.1 mmol/L) and 50 in the third tertile (≥ 7.1 mmol/L). The non-adjusted relationship between FBG and ICAS was positive. After controlling potential confounders, the association of FPG with ICAS remained positive, as well as in subgroups analysis, such as age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia and COAD. The association remained unchanged after adjusted sex, age, hypertension, DM, uric acid, hyperlipidaemia, and CAOD (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.02–1.15). The analyses also showed that the positive association was statistically significant (P < 0.05) among individuals without diabetes. This study showed a positive relationship between FBG and ICAS, which suggests that clinicians may need to be simultaneously concerned about FBG and ICAS.