OBJECTIVES Experiences of interpersonal discrimination are pervasive stressors in the lives of African Americans. Increased discrimination stress may cause premature aging. Telomere length (TL) is a plastic genetic trait that is an emerging indicator of cellular health and aging. Short TL is a risk factor for the earlier onset of disease. TL shortens with age, a process that may be accelerated by psychosocial stress. Our study explores the relationship between TL and experiences of discrimination in the form of self-reported unfair treatment (UT). METHODS Using a qPCR-based method, we measured TL in DNA from saliva samples provided by 135 African American adults from Tallahassee, FL. We developed discrimination measures using a modified survey that explores nine social domains of self-reported unfair treatment experienced both directly and indirectly. We used multiple regression to examine associations between UT and TL. RESULTS We found that racial discrimination in the form of self-reported unfair treatment attributed to race (UT-Race-Self) is inversely associated with TL. CONCLUSIONS The significant association between increased UT-Race-Self and shorter telomeres supports the hypothesis that psychosocial stress stemming from racial discrimination may affect TL. The potential impact of discrimination on TL may contribute to premature biological aging and racial health inequalities seen in African Americans.

中文翻译：

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端粒长度缩短与不公平待遇有关，归因于居住在佛罗里达州塔拉哈西的非洲裔美国人的种族。

目标人际歧视的经历是非洲裔美国人生活中普遍存在的压力源。歧视压力的增加可能导致过早老化。端粒长度（TL）是可塑性遗传特征，是细胞健康和衰老的新兴指标。短TL是疾病较早发作的危险因素。TL随着年龄的增长而缩短，这一过程可能会因社会心理压力而加速。我们的研究以自我报告的不公平待遇（UT）的形式探讨了TL和歧视经历之间的关系。方法采用基于qPCR的方法，我们测量了来自佛罗里达州塔拉哈西市的135名非洲裔美国成年人提供的唾液样本中DNA的TL。我们使用修改后的调查制定了歧视措施，该调查探讨了直接和间接经历的自我报告的不公平待遇的九个社会领域。我们使用多元回归检验了UT和TL之间的关联。结果我们发现，以种族为由的自我报告的不公平待遇形式的种族歧视（UT-Race-Self）与TL成反比。结论UT-Race-Self的增加和端粒较短之间的显着相关性支持以下假设：种族歧视引起的社会心理压力可能影响TL。歧视对TL的潜在影响可能会导致非洲裔美国人过早的生物衰老和种族健康不平等。结果我们发现，以种族为由的自我报告的不公平待遇形式的种族歧视（UT-Race-Self）与TL成反比。结论UT-Race-Self的增加和端粒较短之间的显着相关性支持以下假设：种族歧视引起的社会心理压力可能影响TL。歧视对TL的潜在影响可能会导致非洲裔美国人过早的生物衰老和种族健康不平等。结果我们发现，以种族为由的自我报告的不公平待遇形式的种族歧视（UT-Race-Self）与TL成反比。结论UT-Race-Self的增加和端粒较短之间的显着相关性支持以下假设：种族歧视引起的社会心理压力可能影响TL。歧视对TL的潜在影响可能会导致非洲裔美国人过早的生物衰老和种族健康不平等。