BackgroundChronically dysregulated neuroinflammation has been implicated in neurodegenerative dementias, with separate studies reporting increased brain levels of inflammatory mediators and gliosis in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as well as in Lewy body dementias (LBD). However, it is unclear whether the nature and extent of neuroinflammatory responses in LBD are comparable to those in AD. In this study, we performed head-to-head measurements of a panel of cytokines in the post-mortem neocortex of AD versus the two major clinical subtypes of LBD, namely, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD).MethodsPost-mortem tissues from the mid-temporal cortex (Brodmann area 21) of a cohort of neuropathologically well-defined AD, PDD and DLB patients were processed and measured for a comprehensive range of cytokines (IL-1α, IL-1Ra, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IFN-γ, GM-CSF and FGF-2) using a multiplex immunoassay platform. Associations between inflammation markers and neuropathological measures of neuritic plaques, neurofibrillary tangles as well as Lewy bodies were also performed.ResultsWe found IL-1α, IFN-γ, GM-CSF and IL-13 to be elevated in the mid-temporal cortex of AD patients. In contrast, none of the measured cytokines were significantly altered in either DLB or PDD. Similar cytokine changes were observed in two other neocortical areas of AD patients. Furthermore, increases of IL-1α, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, IL-10 and IL-13 associated with moderate-to-severe neurofibrillary tangle burden, but not with neuritic plaques or Lewy bodies. Our findings of elevated neocortical pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in AD, but not in DLB or PDD, suggest that neuroinflammatory responses are strongly linked to neurofibrillary tangle burden, which is higher in AD compared to LBD. In conclusion, neuroinflammation may not play a prominent role in the pathophysiology of late-stage LBD.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12974-023-02789-8.