Recently, it has become increasingly apparent that oxidants, in addition to being agents of cytotoxicity, can play an important role in mediating specific cell responses and expression of genes involved in degenerative pathophysiologic states, such as inflammation and cancer. In particular, nuclear transcription factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), a multisubunit transcription factor, has been implicated in the transcriptional up-regulation of inflammatory genes in response to oxidants or changes in cellular oxidation-reduction status. This paper provides an overview of the cellular responses to oxidative stress and oxidation-reduction imbalance and the role of NF-kappaB in these responses and summarizes the current strategies used to study NF-kappaB activation and nuclear translocation, particularly in relation to dietary oxidant-mediated pathophysiology of the intestine.