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Purpose: Since cytomegalovirus retinitis (CR) is an important cause of visual impairment among AIDS patients and HLA-C alleles have been associated with AIDS disease outcome, we typed HLA-C locus in patients with AIDS exhibiting or not CR., Methods: Three groups of individuals were studied: (i) 49 patients with AIDS and CR (Group I), (ii) 161 patients with AIDS without CR (Group II), and (iii) 202 healthy HIV-negative individuals (Group III). HLA-C typing was performed using commercial kits., Results: The HLA-C∗ 07 allele group was underrepresented in AIDS patients with CR ( P =0.005) when compared to controls or when compared to AIDS patients without CR ( P =0.006). The HLA-C∗ 05 allele group was overrepresented in Group II in comparison to Group III ( P =0.017). The frequency of the HLA-C∗ 16 allele group was increased in Group III in comparison to Group II ( P =0.004)., Conclusion: The HLA-C∗ 07 allele group conferred protection against the development of CR in Brazilian AIDS patients, whereas the HLA-C∗ 05 and HLA-C∗ 16 allele groups were associated with AIDS susceptibility or protection, respectively.