Phosphatidylethanol in Steatotic Liver Disease: Unveiling Alcohol Use and Enhancing Diagnostic Precision

ACCURATELY discerning the contribution of alcohol intake to the pathogenesis of steatotic liver disease (SLD) is fundamental to its classification, management, and prognosis.As the field transitions toward a refined taxonomy, including metabolic dysfunction-associated SLD (MASLD), alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), and the hybrid phenotype metabolic dysfunction and alcohol-related liver disease (MetALD), the role of objective biomarkers becomes increasingly crucial.At the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Congress 2025, three pivotal studies illustrated the emerging clinical value of phosphatidylethanol (PEth), a blood-based biomarker that directly quantifies alcohol intake over a ~4-week window, proving an important supplement to the self-reported history.