Abstract: Background: Hypertension, an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), accounts for 57% and 24% of deaths due to stroke and coronary artery disease, respectively. Even blood pressure (BP) in prehypertension category (systolic BP 120-139 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP 80-89 mm Hg) hold 3 times more risk for CVD than normal BP (systolic BP <120 mm Hg and diastolic BP <80 mm Hg). We sought to compare the markers of inflammation and insulin resistance in age and body mass index (BMI) matched prehypertensive and normotensive subjects, and to evaluate the association of prehypertension BP status with markers of inflammation and insulin resistance.