A novel surgical glue composed of gelatin and N-hydroxysuccinimide activated poly(L-glutamic acid): Part 1. Synthesis of activated poly(L-glutamic acid) and its gelation with gelatin

Although fibrin glue has been widely used as a surgical adhesive, its components, fibrinogen and thrombin, obtained from human blood are not completely free from the risk of virus infection due to acquired immune deficiency and hepatitis. Recently, we have reported that a polymer pair composed of gelatin and poly(L-glutamic acid) (PLGA) promptly forms a gel and can firmly bond to soft tissues when crosslinked with the aid of water-soluble carbodiimide (WSC). The present study was undertaken to design a new PLGA-gelatin glue without using WSC. Two kinds of PLGA with molecular weights of 71 and 22 kDa were employed to prepare N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) activated derivatives. The NHS-activated PLGA could be synthesized at high yields and was found to be stable for an extended time without losing the ability to crosslink with gelatin when stored under a dry-cold condition. This NHS-activated PLGA could spontaneously form a gel with gelatin in an aqueous solution within a short time, comparable to a commercial fibrin glue, when gelation was allowed to proceed at pH 8.3. The NHS-activated PLGA prepared from PLGA with the molecular weight of 22 kDa could be readily dissolved at high concentrations and its ability to form a gel was maintained for more than 10 min when an acidic 8% NHS-activated PLGA solution was used. The bonding strength of PLGA gelatin glues with natural tissue was higher than that of fibrin glue. These findings strongly suggest that this combination of gelatin and NHS-PLGA is very promising as a surgical adhesive and may possibly replace fibrin glues prepared from human blood components.