Objective To investigate the association of the serum levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and soluble receptor for advanced glycation end product (sRAGE) with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD).Methods A total of 149 patients who were admitted to Department of Neurology in Lanzhou University Second Hospital from February 2017 to January 2018 were enrolled, and according to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and inclusion/exclusion criteria, they were divided into AD group with 34 patients, VaD group with 64 patients (with VaD after cerebral infarction), and N-VaD group with 51 patients (without VaD after cerebral infarction). A total of 31 inpatients on physical examination who had no severe diseases and were well matched for sex, age, and education level were enrolled as normal control group. The four groups were compared in terms of general information, MMSE score, and serum levels of AGEs and sRAGE, and the association of serum levels of AGEs and sRAGE with AD and VaD was analyzed.Results The AD group and the N-VaD group had a significantly higher level of AGEs than the VaD group and the normal control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the level of AGEs between the VaD group and the normal control group, as well as between the AD group and the N-VaD group (P>0.05). The ROC curve showed that serum AGEs had a low value in the diagnosis of AD. The Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that age was negatively correlated with MMSE score (r=-0.168, P<0.05) and body mass index was positively correlated with MMSE score (r=0.151, P<0.05). There were no significant differences in sex, age, and diabetes between the four groups (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the level of sRAGE between the four groups (P>0.05).Conclusions Serum AGEs may be associated with the development and progression of AD. AGEs have a low value in the diagnosis of AD.