Scavenger receptor CD36 is a transmembrane protein as well as pattern recognition receptor expressed on the surfaces of multiple types of cells such as monocytes, macrophages, microvascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and platelets. In recent years, studies have found that the expression of CD36 is increased in some diseases, including type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver, and obesity. This paper collates the latest progress in the studies of scavenger receptor CD36, illuminates the role of CD36 receptor in metabolic inflammatory diseases by inflammation control, endoplasmic reticulum stress, macrophage phenotype transformation, and insulin resistance, and briefly introduces that CD36 can be a serum marker of metabolic inflammatory diseases, in order to provide potential therapeutic targets for treatment of metabolic inflammatory diseases.