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BACKGROUND: Depressive syndromes, including recurrent brief depression (RBD), have frequently been observed in association with chronic diseases characterized by immune activation, such as autoimmune thyroiditis or celiac disease. However, the association of RBD with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), a disease with an increased incidence of major depressive disorders, is unknown. METHODS: Cases: 135 (83 males, 52 females) consecutive treatment-naïve patients with CHC. Exclusion criteria: previous treatment with IFN-alpha, co-infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus, infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), drug or alcohol abuse, or malignancy. Controls: 540 (332 males, 208 females) subjects without evidence of hepatitis, randomly extracted from the database of a previous epidemiological study. The psychiatric diagnosis was based on the Composite International Diagnostic …