The term “metabolic and alcohol-related liver disease （MetALD）” recently proposed emphasizes the synergistic role of metabolic dysfunction and alcohol exposure in the progression of liver injury. Although this theoretical framework improves the understanding of the multifactorial and complex nature of liver disease， its clinical application still faces numerous new challenges in diagnosis and treatment. This article summarizes the latest evidence for the prevalence， potential pathogenesis， clinical diagnostic markers， and treatment of MetALD and particularly emphasizes the urgency to develop reliable preclinical models that can accurately simulate the intricate pathophysiology of this disease due to various factors. This article also provides a systematic evaluation of emerging therapies including fecal microbiota transplantation and nutritional interventions and proposes the future directions for drug innovation in MetALD.