_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: bisongsa@yahoo.com, bisongsa@dal.ca; Asian Journal of Medicine and Health 7(1): 1-9, 2017; Article no.AJMAH.36294 ISSN: 2456-8414 Effect of Crude Ethanol Leaf-extract of Murraya koenigii on Anxiety in Mice S. A. Bisong 1* , U. E. Okon 1 , E. A. Egbung 2 , F. E. Abuo 1 and O. A. Sanya 3 1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria. 2 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria. 3 Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author SAB designed the study, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol. Author UEO wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Authors EAE and FEA managed the literature searches. Author OAS managed the analyses of the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/AJMAH/2017/36294 Editor(s): (1) Godswill Nduka Anyasor, Department of Biochemistry, Benjamin S. Carson (Snr.) School of Medicine, Babcock University, Nigeria. Reviewers: (1) Juliana Maria de Paula, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. (2) Dinithi Peiris, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history/21094 Received 22 nd August 2017 Accepted 10 th September 2017 Published 22 nd September 2017 ABSTRACT Herbs are used the world over for culinary purposes and treating a host of ailments including mental disorders. Hence, this study was aimed at assessing the effects of curry plant (Murraya koenigii), commonly used as spice, on anxiety in mice. Twenty CD1 mice (body weight 21.5 g -30 g) were randomly assigned to two (2) groups of ten mice each. Mice received vehicle (distilled water- control) and ethanol leaf-extract of M. koenigii extract (80 mg/kg body weight) orally for 7 days before behavioural tests were done. Anxiety related behaviour were assesd using the elevated plus maze (EPM) and the light/dark (LD) box. M. koenigii extract increased the duration the mice spent in the open arms of EPM compared to the control (p<0.01) while also decreasing the time the mice spent in the close arms compared to control (p<0.01). The frequency of stretch attend postures of M. koenigii-treated mice were significantly (p<0.05) lower both in the EPM and LD box compared to control. These results indicate that M. koenigii extract decreased anxiety in the mice. Original Research Article