The present study was carried out in an attempt to make a gelatin film strongly bioadhesive by introducing free dangling aldehyde groups. When gelatin films were treated with 0.5M of glutaraldehyde (GA) solution at 60 degrees C, free aldehyde groups (up to 150 micromol/g) were introduced in the film. The bonding strength of GA-crosslinked gelatin films (GA gelatin films) with biological tissue was assessed using porcine skins. It was found that bonding strength increased with increasing aldehyde content in the film. The GA gelatin films had bonding strength as high as 250 gf/cm2 whereas the native gelatin film (before GA treatment) showed bonding strength of 40 gf/cm2. When the aldehyde groups introduced in the gelatin films were quenched with glycine or reduced by NaBH4, the films no longer demonstrated such high bonding strength. These facts suggest that a Schiff base was formed between the free dangling aldehyde in the GA gelatin films and the amino groups of the natural tissue, which strongly contributed to a marked bioadhesion.

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