Objective To establish the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of serum alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) antibody and evaluate its role in its diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis( AIH ). Methods The reactivity between yeast ADH and human anti-ADH serum antibody was tested by Western blot analysis. ELISA was established using yeast ADH. The method was applied in serums of 67 AIH patients,94 primary biliary cirrhosis(PBC) patients, 199 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, 132 chronic hepatitis(CHC) patients, 24 alcohol hepatitis disease(ALD) patients, 99 connective tissue disease(CTD) patients and 31 healthy individuals. The positive rate of ADH antibody in the patients and healthy individuals was measured. The χ2 test was used to compare the positive rates. Results The ELISA method for detecting human anti-ADH serum antibody was established successfully and the optimum reaction conditions were defined. Western blot showed that yeast ADH has cross reactivity with human anti-ADH antibody. The positive rate of anti-ADH antibody in the AIH group [59. 7% ,40/67 ] was higher than that in the normal control group(0,χ2 = 31. 271 ,P <0. 05), PBC group (6. 4% ,χ2 =54. 492,P <0. 05), CHB group( 14. 1% ,χ2 =54. 848,P <0. 05) ,CHC group(21.2% ,χ2 = 29.269,P<0.05), ALl) group ( 25. 0% ,χ2 =8.512,P <0.05)and CTD group ( 43. 4% ,χ2 =4.229, P <0. 05). Conclusions Compared with the PBC, CHB, CHC, ALD and CTD group, the anti-ADH antibody positive rate in the serums of AIH was significantly increased. The antibody may be helpful to the diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis.