Atopic and non-atopic eczema is an inflammatory cutaneous disease which is common in childhood and is associated with a dysregulation of the immune system. Many genes encoding immune receptors, cytokines, chemokines, chemokine receptors, and adhesion molecules involved in the development of the disease are under the control of transcription factors belonging to the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB family. To investigate the role of NF-kappaB in the development of eczema, 20 children, affected by relapsing chronic eczema, were enrolled in this study. Eleven of the 20 children showed IgE immunoreactivity and had a positive prick test. The DNA binding activity of NF-kappaB in nuclear extracts of the patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was examined by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. We found that basal NF-kappaB-DNA binding activity in PBMC was significantly higher in the eczema patient group in comparison with the same parameter in the healthy age-matched control group. Moreover, we observed a significant correlation between NF-kappaB-DNA binding activity and patients clinical score (SCORAD). Based on these observations we speculate that NF-kappaB can play an important role in the immunopathogenesis of eczema and therefore could be considered as a potential therapeutic target.