Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of dietary glycerol monodecanoate (GMD) supplementation on gastrointestinal inflammation and oxidative stress in Yanbian cattle fed a high-concentrate diet.Methods: Thirty Yanbian cattle were randomly assigned to two groups: a control group (CON) fed a basal high-concentrate diet, and a treatment group (C10) fed the same basal diet supplemented with 60 g/cattle/day GMD. After a 10-day adaptation period, the experiment lasted 90 days. Collected samples (serum, rumen epithelium, abomasum, ileal mucosa) were analyzed for the following: gastrointestinal morphology (rumen and ileum); inflammatory, antioxidant, and oxidative stress indices (serum, rumen, and ileum); ghrelinrelated indices (serum and abomasum); and host transcriptomes (rumen and ileum).Results: GMD supplementation significantly reduced the levels of tumor necrosis factor‑α and interleukin‑1β (IL‑1β) in serum and rumen, as well as IL‑1β in the ileum. It also lowered oxidative stress, as indicated by lower reactive oxygen species in serum, rumen, and ileum. Concurrently, GMD increased antioxidant capacity by increasing levels of reduced glutathione and antioxidant enzymes. Beneficial trends in gastrointestinal morphology were noted in the C10 group, including increased ruminal papillae height and a higher ileal villus height-to-crypt depth ratio. Furthermore, the C10 group exhibited enhanced ghrelin acylation, with increased total ghrelin, acylated ghrelin and ghrelin O‑acyltransferase activity in both serum and abomasum. Transcriptomic analysis of the C10 group compared to the CON group revealed tissue-specific protective mechanisms: in the rumen epithelium, pro‑inflammatory pathways including NF‑κB signaling were significantly suppressed, accompanied by down‑regulation of genes such as IL1B and CXCL2, whereas the ileal mucosal response was dominated by marked up‑regulation of GSTA1.Conclusion: GMD supplementation can reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in Yanbian cattle fed a high-concentrate diet. These effects may involve activation of ghrelin acylation and tissue-specific modulation of transcriptional programs in the rumen and ileum.