Heavy Drinking and Fibrosis in MASLD

Steatotic liver disease (SLD) is classified based on cardiometabolic risk factors and average weekly alcohol consumption as: 1) alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD); 2) metabolic and alcohol–associated liver disease (MetALD); or 3) metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Despite falling below the weekly alcohol intake threshold for MetALD,* people with MASLD may have increased risk for liver fibrosis from episodic heavy drinking (Figure 1).

To further investigate, researchers used survey data from a nationally representative group of 8000 U.S. adults who underwent transient elastography. Episodic heavy drinking was assessed and defined as ≥4 drinks for women or ≥5 drinks for men on any day, occurring at lea…