A chronic low-grade inflammatory state of the adipose tissue, concomitant with increasing adiposity, may contribute to decreased efficiency of feed utilization in late-stage finishing cattle. Supplementation with rumen-protected fish oil, containing the omega-3 fatty acids (FA), eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids, could attenuate efficiency of feed utilization declines and adipose tissue inflammation by modulating the inflammatory balance to a pro-resolutive state. Therefore, we included different lipid sources (encapsulated fish oil [EFO] vs tallow) with contrasting omega-3 FA content to a finishing diet and evaluated growth performance, carcass characteristics, blood immunometabolic biomarkers, and adipose tissue inflammation in beef steers. Whilst adipose tissue inflammation was not evidenced, compared with the tallow-supplemented group, dietary inclusion of EFO enhanced pro-resolving oxylipins synthesis, which was associated with improvements in growth performance, carcass characteristics, and insulin sensitivity.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.