Vela S, Guerra A, Farrell G, et al. - This study sought to correlate fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) levels to their non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) precursors during alcohol intoxication and clinical alcoholic pancreatitis. Researchers assessed pathophysiology underlying FAEE increase and their role as diagnostic biomarkers for alcoholic pancreatitis. Researchers designed a prospective blinded study to compare FAEE, NEFA, and ethanol blood levels on hospitalization for alcoholic pancreatitis (n=31), alcohol intoxication (n=25), and in normal controls (n=43). They further assessed serum FAEEs at admission for non-alcoholic pancreatitis (n=75). This study’s findings demonstrate that sustained, alcohol-independent, large (20-50-fold) increase in circulating FAEEs during alcoholic pancreatitis results from their visceral release and mirrors the 2-4-fold increase in parent NEFA. As per the findings, the large area under the curve of FAEEs on receiver operating characteristic analysis supports their role as alcoholic pancreatitis biomarkers.