SYDNEY, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — Australian researchers have developed a blood test that can detect alcohol use in people with liver disease far more accurately than commonly used biomarker tests or patient self-reports.
The breakthrough could help clinicians make better treatment decisions and guide eligibility for liver transplants, according to a statement released Thursday by Australia’s Centenary Institute.
Liver disease is one of Australia’s fastest-growing health problems, now affecting about one in three people, driven by factors like obesity, viral hepatitis, and alcohol use, the statement said.
The study, published in the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, assessed the effectiveness of a test measuring phosphatidylethanol (PEth), a compound formed only when alcohol is consumed, with 95 percent accuracy, it said.
The research involved 183 participants, including those with alcohol-associated liver disease, alcohol use disorder, and healthy volunteers, who reported their alcohol consumption for comparison with PEth levels and other biomarkers, it said.
PEth testing also distinguished between levels of consumption, with concentrations of 300 micrograms per liter indicating heavy drinking and 600 micrograms per liter indicating very heavy drinking, researcher said, adding more than one-third of patients who reported not drinking still had PEth levels showing recent alcohol use.
The study’s senior author, Clinical Professor Devanshi Seth at the Centenary Institute and the Sydney Local Health District, said PEth offered a “biochemical signature” that can be detected for up to five weeks after drinking, making it ideal for monitoring changes in drinking behavior.
Liver transplant specialist Anastasia Volovets said the method would strengthen assessment in transplant settings, where precise information on alcohol use is critical. The test has already been introduced in a liver transplant unit in Sydney. ■