| Abstract: | Papidly curable hydrogels were prepared through chemical crosslinking of gelatin with poly(carboxylic acid)s including poly (L-glutamic acid) (PLGA), hyaluronic acid (HA), and poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) by use of water-soluble carbodiimide (WSC). The effects of the nature of added poly (carboxylic acid)s on gelation of mixed gelatinpoly (carboxylic acid) aqueous solutions and adhesion of the resulting hydrogels to the mouse skin were evaluated. The addition of poly (carboxylic acid) s reduced the gelation time of gelatin aqueous solutions except for HA. Mixed gelatin-PLGA solutions were cured more rapidly than other mixed solutions and the gelation time was shortened with the increasing PLGA molecular weight. The resulting gelatin-PLGA hydrogels exhibited stronger adhesion to the mouse skin than gelatin-HA and gelatin-PAA hydrogels. The bonding strength increased with the increase in PLGA molecular weight up to 83,000 and thereafter decreased. The longer gelation time and lower adhesion of the gelatin-PAA hydrogels than the gelatin-PLGA hydrogels seem to be due to poorer compatibility of gelatin with PAA than with PLGA. The mixed gelatin-PLGA solution underwent phase separation when the concentration and molecular weight of PLGA became higher than a threshold. The insignificant or suppressive effect of HA addition might be ascribed to the HA-WSC reaction which was the least effective in hydrogel formation. |
