*Article* **Antiviral and Antioxidant Properties of Echinochrome A**

**Sergey A. Fedoreyev 1,\*, Natalia V. Krylova 2, Natalia P. Mishchenko 1, Elena A. Vasileva 1, Evgeny A. Pislyagin 1, Olga V. Iunikhina 2, Vyacheslav F. Lavrov 3, Oksana A. Svitich 3, Linna K. Ebralidze <sup>3</sup> and Galina N. Leonova <sup>2</sup>**


Received: 2 November 2018; Accepted: 12 December 2018; Published: 15 December 2018

**Abstract:** The aim of this study was to examine the in vitro antioxidant and antiviral activities of echinochrome A and echinochrome-based antioxidant composition against tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). The antioxidant composition, which is a mixture of echinochrome A, ascorbic acid, and α-tocopherol (5:5:1), showed higher antioxidant and antiviral effects than echinochrome A. We suppose that echinochrome A and its composition can both directly affect virus particles and indirectly enhance antioxidant defense mechanisms in the hosting cell. The obtained results allow considering the echinochrome A and the composition of antioxidants on its basis as the promising agents with the both antioxidant and antiviral activities.

**Keywords:** echinochrome A; composition of antioxidants; antioxidant activity; antiviral activity
