CRP and adrenocortical insufficiency: This could be indicative of hypocortisolism, which has previously been displayed in hypertension, particularly in African women.4,10,18 Suggestions have been made that this could be attributed to dysregulation of the HPA axis, which in turn is mediated by certain inflammatory markers such as CRP.15 Therefore the high correlation between Cw and TPR in these ethnic groups could still be attributed to the initial effects of increased cortisol production by the HPA axis in response to stress.