Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-B) plays an important role in hypertensive renal injury; however, its roles in perpetuating mitochondrial oxidative stress and renal dysfunction remain unclear. In this study, we assessed the effects of chronic NF-B blockade with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) on renal dysfunction and mitochondrial redox status in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). PDTC (150 mg/kg body weight/day) or vehicle was administered orally to eight-week old SHR and their respective controls for 15 weeks. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured by tail-cuff plethysmography at the start of and at every third week throughout the study. After 15 weeks of treatment, anesthetized rats underwent acute renal experiments to determine renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate using PAH and inulin clearance techniques, respectively. Following renal experiments, kidneys were excised from sacrificed rats and cortical mitochondria were isolated for reactive oxygen species (ROS) measurements using electron paramagnetic resonance. Tissue mRNA and protein levels of NF-B and oxidative stress genes were determined using real-time PCR and immunofluorescence or western blot, respectively. PDTC treatment partially attenuated the increase in SBP (196.4±9.76 vs. 151.4±2.12; p<0.05) and normalized renal hemodynamic and excretory parameters and ATP production rates in SHR. PDTC treatment also attenuated the higher levels of cytosolic and mitochondrial ROS generation and tissue mRNA and protein expression levels of NF-B and oxidative stress genes in SHR without any comparable responses in control rats. These findings suggest that NF-B activation by ROS induces the cytosolic and mitochondrial oxidative stress and tissue injury that contribute to renal dysfunction observed in SHR.