New Diagnostic Method Uses Phosphatidylethanol to Screen for Liver Disease

A study found that 11 percent of patients screened for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) had phosphatidylethanol (PEth) levels of 20 ng/mL or higher.

Researchers suggest using PEth testing to accurately distinguish between MASLD and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) or the overlap condition MetALD.

Higher PEth results were significantly associated with elevated liver enzymes, including AST, ALT, and GGT, in the multicenter cohort of 2,870 patients.