RETRACTED: Effects of emulsifier, betaine and L-carnitine on growth performance, immune response, gut morphology and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens exposed to cyclic heat stress (Retracted article. See vol. 64, pg. 534, 2023)

1. This experiment investigated the efficiency of varying doses of an emulsifier blend (EB; 0 and 1 g/kg of diet), betaine (BT; 0 and 1 g/kg of diet) and L-carnitine (CT; 0 and 0.5 g/kg of diet) in broilers subjected to circular heat stress (HS) conditions. 2. A total of 1080 1-d-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to 9 treatment groups (6 pens/treatment with 20 birds/pen) in a completely randomised design. The thermoneutral control broiler chickens were housed at a comfortable temperature and fed a standard diet (no additives). The other 8 groups were exposed to cyclic HS conditions (34 degrees C) for 8 h (10:00-18:00). 3. There were EB x BT x CT interactions for body weight (BW) at 24 d (P = 0.038) and average daily gain (ADG) during the 10-24-d period (P = 0.049), with the greatest values with concurrent supplementation of all three ingredients. 4. Inclusion of EB resulted in greater (P < 0.05) BW, ADG, European performance index, uniformity rate, primary antibody titres against sheep red blood cells (SRBC), duodenal villus height (VH) and villus surface area, nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolisable energy (AMEn) and apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of dry matter, crude protein and fat, but lower (P < 0.05) feed conversion ratio, mortality rate and heterophile-to-lymphocyte ratio. 5. Dietary BT supplementation improved (P < 0.05) overall performance indicators, primary antibody titres against SRBC and Newcastle disease virus, serum total antioxidant capacity, duodenal VH, Jejunal VH/crypt depth, AID of dry matter and crude protein. The effect of dietary supplementation with CT was limited to an increase (P < 0.05) in ADG (d 10-24) and a decrease (P < 0.05) in serum malondialdehyde concentration (42 d) and jejunal crypt depth (42 d). 6. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of either EB or BT alone or in combination can ameliorate some of the detrimental effects of HS on growth performance, immunity and intestinal health in broilers, while a minor positive effect on performance and antioxidant status was observed with CT supplementation.