Exact microscopic spectral correlation functions are derived by means of the replica limit of the Toda lattice equation. We consider both Hermitian and non-Hermitian theories in the Wigner–Dyson universality class (class A) and in the chiral universality class (class AIII). In the Hermitian case we rederive two-point correlation functions for class A and class AIII as well as several one-point correlation functions in class AIII. In the non-Hermitian case the average spectral density of non-Hermitian complex random matrices in the weak non-Hermiticity limit is obtained directly from the replica limit of the Toda lattice equation. In the case of class A, this result describes the spectral density of a disordered system in a constant imaginary vector potential (the Hatano–Nelson model) which is known from earlier work. New results are obtained for the average spectral density in the weak non-Hermiticity limit of a quenched chiral random matrix model at non-zero chemical potential. These results apply to the ergodic or ε domain of the quenched QCD partition function at non-zero chemical potential. Our results have been checked against numerical results obtained from a large ensemble of random matrices. The spectral density obtained is different from the result derived by Akemann for a closely related model, which is given by the leading order asymptotic expansion of our result. In all cases, the replica limit of the Toda lattice equation explains the factorization of spectral one- and two-point functions into a product of a bosonic (non-compact integral) and a fermionic (compact integral) partition function. We conclude that the fermionic partition functions, the bosonic partition functions and the supersymmetric partition function are all part of a single integrable hierarchy. This is the reason that it is possible to obtain the supersymmetric partition function, and its derivatives, from the replica limit of the Toda lattice equation.