The mechanism of lemon essential oil (LEO) intervention in anxiety disorder was investigated using network pharmacology,and its efficacy was validated through experimental verification.The composition of LEO was determined by GC-MS,and the target compounds in LEO were identified from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) platform.The target for anxiety disorder was obtained from the OMIM and GeneCards databases.The intersection target of LEO-anxiety disorder was determined using Venny,and subsequent enrichment analyses were performed for GO and KEGG pathways.The "component-target-pathway-disease" network was constructed using Cytoscape,and the key components were subjected to target docking through 1-Click Docking.The cellular inflammation model was employed for validation.The constructed network identified a total of nineteen active components in LEO,including limonene,α-terpineol,β-pinene,neroli acetate,4-terpinol,and others.The compound exerts its effects on 18 disease targets,thereby modulating 20 signaling pathways including neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction,serotonergic synapses,and dopaminergic synapsesamong others.The eighteen disease targets accounted for 78.26% of the total target count,including GABRA2,MAO,DRD1,GRIA2,etc.The LEO demonstrates inhibitory effects on DPPH and ABTS free radicals,suppresses the generation of reactive oxygen species in Lipopolysaccharide-induced HaCaT cells,and reduces the levels of inflammatory factors NO,TNF-α,and IL-6.The various active components of LEO can modulate multiple signaling pathways through interactions with multiple targets,thereby attenuating cellular oxidative stress,suppressing inflammatory responses,and ultimately intervening in anxiety disorders.