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Phosphatidylethanol and Alcohol Use in Liver Disease Patients

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Biomarkers in Liver Disease

Abstract

Alcohol use can potentiate liver diseases such as hepatitis C and in sufficient quantities can itself cause significant liver disease over time. This chapter will briefly review the importance of alcohol use in liver diseases and difficulties that can arise when clinicians attempt to gather an accurate drinking history in patients with liver disease. The bulk of the chapter focuses on the use of blood phosphatidylethanol (PEth) as an alcohol consumption biomarker in liver disease patients, including validation in this population, potential uses in clinical care and research, and current limitations to its use for these purposes.

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Abbreviations

%dCDT:

% disialo-carbohydrate-deficient transferrin

ALT:

Alanine transaminase

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

CDT:

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin

ELSD:

Evaporative light scattering detection

EtG:

Ethyl glucuronide

GGT:

Gamma-glutamyltransferase

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

MCV:

Mean corpuscular volume

MS:

Mass spectrometry

MS/MS:

Tandem mass spectrometry

PEth:

Phosphatidylethanol

ROC:

Receiver operating characteristic

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, DK Miller Bldg, Erie County Medical Center, 462 Grider Street, Buffalo, NY, 14215, USA

    Scott H. Stewart

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  1. Scott H. Stewart
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Correspondence to Scott H. Stewart .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

  2. Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences Research Division, Faculty of Life Science and Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

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Stewart, S.H. (2017). Phosphatidylethanol and Alcohol Use in Liver Disease Patients. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V. (eds) Biomarkers in Liver Disease. Biomarkers in Disease: Methods, Discoveries and Applications. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7675-3_18

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