Objective   To investigate the expressions of Livin α and Livin β in marrow mononuclear cells (MMNCs) of childhood acute leukemia (CAL) and explore the clinical significance.   Methods   Real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of Livin α and Livin β in MMNCs of CAL

respectively.   Results   Both Livinα and Livinβ expression rates and expression levels were higher in preliminary diagnosis group（n=51）of CAL ，including acute lymphoblastic leukemia（n=39）and acute myeloid leukemia （n=12)

compared with the control group（P0.05）

and the expression level of Livinα was higher than Livinβ（P0.01）. The expression levels of Livinα and Livinβ were significantly lower in patients with a favorable day 19 bone marrow response (leukemic blasts ≤5%) to induction chemotherapy of ALL than in the patients without chemotherapy（P0.01）. Though the expression levels of Livinα and Livinβ were also lower in patients with a unfavorable day 19 bone marrow response (leukemic blasts＞5%) to induction chemotherapy of ALL than in the patients without chemotherapy（P0.05）

the expression levels of Livinα and Livinβ were still significantly higher than that of the control group（P0.01）.    Conclusion   The expression of Livinα and Livinβ may be associated with the genesis and development of CAL. It seems that the expression of Livinα and Livinβ may be used as a molecular marker of CAL.