Phytanic acid represents a naturally occurring branched-chain fatty acid primarily derived from the metabolic breakdown of phytol in chlorophyll-containing organisms, effectively serving as a critical dietary biomarker across various preclinical experimental models to evaluate the dysregulation of alpha-oxidation and the induction of metabolic toxicity during strictly monitored laboratory observation periods. It functions as a potent endogenous agonist of PPAR-alpha and a primary substrate for alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) to ensure high experimental sensitivity in molecular biology investigations focused on lipid homeostasis and oncogenic metabolic reprogramming.