Objective To explore the changes and clinical significance of autophagy-related molecules ATG16L1, Beclin1, and chemokines CCL2, CCL5 in peripheral blood of patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Methods A total of 90 hospitalized patients with OSAHS from September 2018 to August 2020 in University Town Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were selected as the study subjects, including 30 patients with mild, moderate and severe OSAHS, and 30 healthy controls matched with balanced baseline. The levels of ATG16L1 and Beclin1 in plasma were detected by ELISA. The mRNA levels of CCL2 and CCL5 in peripheral blood monocytes were detected by RT-PCR. The correlation between ATG16L1, Beclin1, CCL2, CCL5 and respiratory hypopnea index (AHI) was further analyzed. Results The levels of ATG16L1 and Beclin1 in the plasma of patients in mild, moderate, severe OSAHS groups were significantly lower than those in the normal control group, the difference was statistically significant (all P＜0.01). The expression levels of CCL2 and CCL5 mRNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in OSAHS mild, moderate, and severe patients were significantly higher than those in the normal control group, and the difference was statistically significant (all P＜0.01). The levels of ATG16L1 and Beclin1 were negatively correlated with AHI in OSASH patients, and CCL2 and CCL5 were positively correlated with AHI in OSASH patients (The correlation coefficients were 〖CD*3/5〗0.95,〖CD*3/5〗0.94, 0.97, 0.96 respectively, all P＜0.05). Conclusion In the peripheral blood of patients with OSAHS, the level of autophagy-related molecules decreased and the level of chemokines increased, and both were related to the severity of OSAHS, suggesting these molecules may participate in the occurrence and development of OSAHS.