Inflammatory acne pathogenesis includes androgen-driven sebaceous activity (SRD5A1/2 + AR + SREBP1), ductal hyperkeratinization, Cutibacterium acnes colonization with virulence factor expression (RoxP, GehA, sortase), and inflammatory cascades. Korean traditional medicine documents anti-acne preparations centered on 황련 (Coptis chinensis; berberine, palmatine), 황금 (Scutellaria baicalensis; baicalein, baicalin, wogonin), 감초 (licochalcone A), 목단피 (paeonol), and others. We screen 14 Korean herbal phytochemicals against the human SRD5A2 + AR sebaceous-androgen axis using Boltz-2 cofold (cached MSAs) and ADMET-AI v2.0.1. SREBP1, C. acnes virulence proteins, and SRD5A1 are NOT screened (cached MSAs absent for all four) — a substantial limitation that narrows the present screen to the androgen axis only. Real Boltz-2 results identify Baicalein (황금) as top mean affinity (0.744) with AR engagement 0.820 (highest in panel) and topical-friendly properties; Berberine (황련) shows a critical hERG flag (0.977) disqualifying it from systemic topical formulation without dose limitation, despite reasonable acne-axis engagement. Wogonin (황금) has the cleanest ADMET safety profile (AMES 0.247) at moderate affinity. The Korean traditional formulary's combinatorial pattern of 황련 + 황금 + 감초 finds partial structural support but with the safety caveats above. All results are in silico; sebaceous cell + C. acnes assay validation remain the explicit next step. Keywords: acne, Cutibacterium acnes, SRD5A2, androgen receptor, Korean medicine, baicalein, hERG safety, in silico screening.
Cheongwoo Han (2026) studied this question.