Table 1.

Published research on discrimination and inflammation, 2009–2019.

Author	Discrimination measure	Inflammation marker	Total number of participants	Relevant descriptive statistics	Covariates	Findings
Cross-sectional Allen et al. (2019)	Experiences of discrimination	Inflammation measured by CRP and IL-6	African American women residing in the San Francisco Bay area (n = 208)	Average age of 42 years old Approximately 20% were below the federal poverty threshold, 55% were employed, 30% were married, and 73% had health insurance.	Age, education, educational attainment, poverty status, employment status, health insurance, marital/partner status smoking status, alcohol use, exercise, cardiovascular medication, diabetes medication, neuroticism	In the high education group, reporting high discrimination was associated with high inflammation compared to those who reporting moderate levels of education.
Cuevas et al. (2019)	Everyday discrimination and major lifetime discrimination	CRP	882 Puerto Rican adults from the Boston metro area	Average age was 63.7 years old (ranged between 45 and 75). The majority of participants were women (73.1%). Approximately 52% of participants had a high school education (or General Education Development) or more. Approximately 12% were employed. Approximately 18% of participants smoked, 21% were moderate or heavy drinkers, and had and 18.9 depressive symptoms on average.	Age, educational attainment, income-to-poverty ratio, marital status, language-based acculturation, years living in the mainland US, work history, current employment status, alcohol consumption, smoking status, physical activity, diet quality, insomnia symptoms	Greater everyday discrimination was associated with lower odds of having high CRP. Greater major lifetime discrimination was associated with higher odds of having high CRP.
Doyle and Molix (2014)	Everyday discrimination	Chronic inflammation measured by IL-6, E-selectin, CRP	592 African American adults	The sample was 370 female and 222 male Average age was 51 years old	Covariates not clearly stated.	Everyday discrimination was positively correlated with IL-6 and E-selectin. Everyday discrimination was indirectly associated with relationship strain through increased chronic inflammation.
Doyle and Molix (2016)	Everyday discrimination	IL-6	99 adults (80% white, 6% multiracial, 4% African Americans, 3% Asians, and 2% Hispanics)	The sample was 78 gay men and 21 lesbian women; average age and income were 35 years old and $60,000/year, respectively.	Race, age, alcohol consumption, medicine usage, BMI, alcohol consumption, prescription medications, BMI	Everyday discrimination was positively associated of higher IL-6 levels in gay men who engaged in less covering, but not for those who engaged in more covering. Everyday discrimination was associated with lower IL6 in lesbian women.
Goosby et al. (2015)	Everyday Discrimination	CRP	58 African American youth	The sample was 79% young females with an average age of 12. Youths’ mothers had an average of some college education. All participants had income at 125% or greater the FPL, were born in the US.	Age-adjusted BMI, waist circumference, sex, age, maternal education level	Everyday discrimination was positively associated with CRP levels among youth.
Giurgescu et al. (2016)	Experiences of discrimination	IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10	96 pregnant African American adult women from a midwifery practice	Participants were in the 2nd trimester of low-risk, singleton pregnancies. Average age was 24 years old and about 20 weeks pregnant. Most participants were multigravida, single, living with their child’s father, and unemployed. Approximately 30% of participants had clinically relevant depressive symptom scores.	Education, employment status, smoking during pregnancy, BMI, gestational age at data collection, clinically relevant depressive symptoms	Experiences of discrimination was positively associated with IL-4 and IL-6 levels.
Kershaw et al. (2016)	Everyday discrimination, major lifetime discrimination due to any attribution, and major lifetime discrimination attributed to race/ethnicity	IL-6 and CRP	6567 participants (38% White, 28% Black, 22% Hispanic, and 12% Chinese)	The sample was 3099 men and 3468 women Age ranged between 45 and 84 years old Participants were recruited from urban areas (New York City, Baltimore City/County, Forsyth County NC, Minneapolis, Chicago, LA County).	Age, education, income, employment status, anti-inflammatory medicine usage, statin usage, hormone replacement therapy usage, recent infection, diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, physical activity, smoking, BMI, and depressive symptoms	Everyday discrimination, lifetime discrimination due to any attribution, and lifetime discrimination attributed to race/ethnicity were positively associated with IL-6 in women. Everyday discrimination was inversely associated with IL-6 in men. Discrimination was not associated with CRP in all models for men and women. No race × discrimination interaction was found.
Lewis et al. (2010)	Everyday Discrimination	CRP	296 African American adults	The sample was 71% female and 29% male. Average age was 73 years old. Participants had 14.5 years of education, a BMI of 29.4, 1.8 discrimination events, and 1.16 depressive symptoms on average. Approximately 7% of participants smoked, 21% had diabetes, and 71% had high blood pressure.	Age, sex, education, depressive symptoms, smoking, chronic health conditions (i.e. heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, vascular disease), BMI	Everyday discrimination was positively associated with CRP levels. Association was attenuated when BMI was added as a covariate. No sex × discrimination interaction was found.
Ong et al. (2017)	Everyday Discrimination	Inflammation measured by CRP, IL-6, E-selectin, fibrinogen, ICAM-1	233 total African American adults	The sample was 64% women and 26% men. Age ranged between 37 and 85 years old with an average age of 53.6. About 55% had some college education or their bachelor’s degree.	Age, gender, education, antihypertensives use, cholesterol lowering medication, steroids, antidepressants, smoking status, alcohol problems, depressive symptoms, major discrimination, and global perceived stress	Everyday discrimination was positively associated with inflammation.
Ong and Williams (2019)	Everyday discrimination and major lifetime discrimination	Inflammation burden measured by CRP, IL-6, fibrinogen, E-selectin, and ICAM-1	300 adults from Milwaukee	The ethnic representation was African American (77.7%), Hispanic (12.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (5.6%), and Native American (4.0%) The average age was 53.9 years old (ranged between 36 and 85 years). Approximately 65% were female, 59% had some college education or at least a bachelor’s degree. Approximately 24% were smokers, 42% used antihypertensive medication, and 17.4 depressive symptoms on average	Age, gender, educational attainment, use of antihypertensive, cholesterol lowering, steroid, antidepressant medications to lower clinical risk, smoking status, and the presence of alcohol problems	Greater lifetime exposure to discrimination was associated with higher inflammation burden. Mediation analyses suggested that poor global sleep quality was a key mechanism underlying the link between lifetime discrimination and inflammation burden. No evidence of an association between everyday discrimination and inflammation burden. No sex × discrimination interaction was found.
Ratner et al. (2013)	Everyday discrimination	IL-6	41 total Black and Latina women (27 Blacks, 11 Latinas, 3 Black-Latinas)	Age ranged between 18 and 44 years, average age was 29 years old; Median income ranged from $20,000–30,000.	Age, income, perceived stress	Everyday discrimination was positively associated with basal IL-6 levels.
Stepanikova et al. (2017)	Everyday and major lifetime discrimination	Fibrinogen, E-selectin, CRP, IL-6	1054 adults (884 Whites and 170 Blacks)	Sample was 57% women and 43% men. Average age was 54.56 years old.	Age, gender, education, income, depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress reactivity, aggression, alienation, smoking status, physical activity, BMI, preventive aspirin, hypertension, diabetes, joint/bone diseases, persistent skin trouble, teeth problems, sleep problems	Major lifetime discrimination was positively associated with higher E-selection and IL-6 after controlling for SES and demographics and positively associated with fibrinogen in a fully adjusted model.
Sutin et al. (2014)	Everyday discrimination attributed to weight	CRP	7394 total overweight/obese adults aged 50+ (85% White, 12% African American, and 3% other-race identifying)	The sample was 57% female. Average age was 67 years old. 9.4% of participants felt discriminated against based on their weight. Those with lower BMIs experienced weight discrimination with higher levels of inflammation.	Age, sex, race, education, BMI	Everyday discrimination attributed to weight was positively associated with CRP levels at BMI between 25 and 30.
Thames et al. (2019)	Brief Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire - Community Version	Conserved transcriptional response to adversity	71 adults, including 37 HIV + persons and 34 HIV-persons	Approximately 67% of participants were Black and 23% were White. The average age was 52.9 years old. Approximately 29% were female and the average level of education was 13.8. Approximately 52% were HIV + and 29% were smokers	Age, education, gender, HIV status, spouse’s education and occupation (for married participants), perceived stress, social status, alcohol use, tobacco use, BMI	Race was associated with higher pro-inflammatory transcription factor activity and discrimination explained more than 50% of total race-related difference in pro-inflammatory transcription factor activity.
Van Dyke et al. (2017)	Experiences of discrimination, adapted to measure SES discrimination	CRP	401 adults (207 African Americans and 194 Whites)	The sample was 68% female, and 54% had a college education.	Age, gender, financial stress, general stress, BMI, smoking status, sleep quality	Signifiant race × education × SES discrimination interaction. SES discrimination was positively associated with CRP among higher educated African American participants, but not in lower educated African American participants or lower/higher educated White participants.
Zilioli et al. (2017)	Everyday discrimination	Inflammation measured by CRP, fibrinogen, IL-6, E-selectin, and ICAM-1.	909 White adults	The sample was 54.13% female. Average age was 55.37 years old. Approximately 78% of participants had a chronic condition. Approximately 52% had just enough money for basic needs, 48% had a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 37.18% had incomes between 300 and 599% of the federal poverty level.	Age, gender, education, family income, any chronic condition, current financial situation, money basic needs, difficulty paying bills, negative/positive affect, other forms of anger expression	Everyday discrimination was positively associated with inflammation.
Longitudinal Beatty Moody et al. (2014)	Everyday Discrimination	CRP	2,490 women (613 Black, 1,233 White, 221 Chinese, 178 Hispanic, 245 Japanese women)	Average age was 46 years; about 47% had a college degree or more.	Age, race, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, SBP, cholesterol, BMI, cynicism, financial strain	Everyday discrimination was positively associated with CRP levels in non-obese women. No race × discrimination interaction effect was found.
Boen (2019)	Everyday discrimination and major lifetime discrimination	CRP	7,280 adults (6,276 Whites and 1,004 Blacks)	Average age was 63 years; about 54% were female; about 87% completed high school. The average household income was $75,482.	Age, race, gender, education, marital status, wealth, and income	Everyday and major life discrimination were positively associated with CRP. Everyday and major life discrimination in the models reduced the racial differences in CRP by 2.3% and 7.2%, respectively.
Brody et al. (2014)	Schedule of Racist Events	CRP	331 African American youth from the rural south age 16–18	The sample was 53% female. Average age at first and second assessments were 11.2 and 20.2 years old, respectively. Approximately 78% of caregivers completed high school/have a GED; 46.3% of participants live below the FPL with a median household monthly income of $1,655.	Cumulative SES risk, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, unhealthy behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, nutrition, exercise, marijuana use)	Racist events were positively associated with CRP levels.
Brody et al. (2015)	Schedule of Racist Events	Inflammation composite score: IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ	160 African American teens	The median household gross monthly income in Wave 1 was $2,016. Were 17 years old at the beginning of the study. In Wave 1, approximately 65% of participants had a single caregiver and 69% of caregivers completed high school/had their GED; 42% of families lived below the FPL.	Gender, intervention, cumulative socioeconomic risk, life stress, depressive symptoms, racial identity, and BMI	Higher levels of racial discrimination was associated with higher cytokine levels. No gender × discrimination interaction.
Cunningham et al. (2012)	Experiences of Discrimination	CRP	3336 adults (1515 Blacks and 1821 Whites)	The sample was 901 Black women, 614 Black men, 958 White women, and 863 White men. Black women: Average age was 31.64 years old Black men: Average age was 31.51 years old White women: Average age was 32.63 years old White men: Average age was 32.57 years old	Age, gender, education, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, BMI, and insulin resistance.	Experiences of discrimination was positively associated with CRP levels. Black women reporting 1–2 experiences of discrimination had higher CRP levels compared to black women with no reported experiences of discrimination. Association was not significant among Black women who reported reporting 3+experiences of discrimination. White women who reported 3 + experiences of discrimination had higher CRP levels compared to White women who reported none. Experiences of discrimination and CRP levels was not significant among black and white men who reported 1–2 experiences.
Friedman et al. (2009)	Everyday and Major lifetime Discrimination	E-selectin	804 adults (93% identified as white)	The sample was 365 men and 419 female. Ages ranged from 35 to 86 (average age for men was 59 and for women was 57.9) About 17% of participants had postsecondary education, 15.6% rated themselves as having poor/fair health	Age, marital status, education, race, self-reported health status, BMI, antihypertensives, cholesterollowering steroids, or anti-depressants, smoking, chronic alcohol/caffeine use.	Major lifetime discrimination and everyday discrimination was positively associated with circulating levels of E-selectin in men.
Nguyen et al. (2019)	Healthcare discrimination using one item from everyday discrimination (receive poorer service or treatment than other people from doctors or hospitals).	CRP	12,695 adults	The average age of participants was 65–67 years across waves, the majority were White (78–80%), and approximately 54–55% of the study sample were female. The average year of school was 13–13.6 across waves, the majority were unemployed (53–59%).	Age, gender, race/ethnieity, educational attainment, year of interview, log-household size adjusted wealth, log-household size adjusted income, current employment status, marital status, health insurance, self-reported health status, BMI, physical activity, alcohol consumption, ever smoked, depressive symptoms, and personality traits.	Health care discrimination was associated with elevated CRP. Association was attenuated after adjusting for self-reported health behaviors, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and personality. No race × discrimination interaction was found. No gender × discrimination was found.
Vadiveloo and Mattei (2017)	Everyday discrimination attributed to weight	Inflammation measured by CRP, fibrinogen, IL-6, E-selectin, and ICAM-1.	986 adults (93% identified as white)	Sample was 57% female and 43% male. Average age was 57 years old. Approximately 41% of participants were obese, and 6% reported weight discrimination. Over 75% of participants exercise regularly, 15% were current smokers, and over 75% were either overweight or obese.	Age, race, household income, education attainment, smoking status, and physical activity	Everyday discrimination attributed to weight was positively associated with inflammatory parameters.
Zahodne et al. (2019)	Everyday discrimination	CRP	12,382 adults	The sample was 1,626 non-Hispanic Black, 1,117 Hispanic, and 9,639 non-Hispanic White adults. Average age for whole sample was 68.8 years old. Approximately 13% of participants were current smokers, and had 1.6 depressive symptoms on average.	Baseline age and gender	Everyday discrimination did not directly predict change in CRP. Everyday discrimination mediated the relationship between race and CRP through psychological and behavioural factors. Black participants reported greater everyday discrimination compared to White participants. In turn, greater everyday discrimination predicted greater increase in CRP through greater external locus of control, and greater external locus of control.
Experimental John-Henderson et al. (2015)	Social-Evaluative Threat	IL-6	190 adults (80 Asians, 69 Whites, 20 Latinx, 9 Middle Eastern, 8 African Americans, and 4 other-race identifying)	The sample was 66 male and 124 female. Ages ranged between 18 and 34, with an average age of 19.82 years.	Ethnicity, gender, gender mismatch, self-reported sleep, BMI.	Lower subjective social class was positively associated with IL-6 levels at baseline. Lower subjective social class predicted a greater increase in IL-6 Speakers rated low in subjective social class responded to the stress test with higher levels of IL-6 regardless of their perception of the evaluator’s social class. Speakers of high class responded with high levels of IL-6 when the evaluator was perceived as having a high social class.
Lucas et al. (2017)	Everyday discrimination	CRP	85 African American adults	The sample was 75% female and 25% male. Approximately 39% were between ages of 21–30 years old; 36% had incomes less than $15,000/year, and 46% completed high school/had a GED. Participants had good oral health, no pre-existing stress-related mental health conditions or endocrine disorders, and were not taking steroid anti-inflammatory medications or adrenergic agonists/antagonists.	Sex, age, education, and income	Strong racial identity led to highly perceived discrimination that was positively associated with CRP levels during recovery after exposure to mild psychosocial stress.
Saban et al. (2018)	Everyday discrimination subscale of the Detroit Area Study Discrimination Scale	IL-6, CRP	99 total postmenopausal women between ages 50 and 75 (50 African-American, 49 white)	Average age was 60 years old. Approximately 29% had annual incomes between $50,000 and $100,000; 45% completed some college/technical school; 47% were married; 64% were overweight; 68% had high blood pressure, and 43% were on an antihypertensive medication.	Age, race, marital status, household income, BMI, statin use, childhood maltreatment, depressive symptoms, subjective social status, depressive symptoms	Perceived discrimination was significantly associated with salivary IL-6 prior to and during exposure to mild psychosocial stress. No race × discrimination interaction effect was found.