ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the changes in peripheral blood metabolites and transcriptomes in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and to assess their diagnostic value as biomarkers. MethodsIn this study, we utilized liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) lipid-targeted metabolomics to compare the metabolic profiles of 30 OSA patients with those of 30 healthy controls, identifying differential lipid metabolites. Through Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, we determined that the glycerolipid metabolism pathway was significantly different. Furthermore, we conducted transcriptome analysis on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from six OSA patients and six healthy controls to evaluate the expression of molecules related to the pathway. ResultsA total of 168 differential lipid metabolites were identified, with significant differences in the glycerolipid metabolism pathway between OSA patients and healthy controls. Transcriptome analysis revealed that glycerolipid metabolism-related molecules GPAT, AGPAT, and LPIN were under expressed in OSA patient PBMCs, suggesting that the glycerolipid metabolism pathway is suppressed in OSA patients. Additionally, diagnostic value analysis showed that GPAT and AGPAT had high AUC values, indicating their potential as biomarkers for OSA. ConclusionThe suppression of the glycerolipid metabolism pathway is closely related to the development of OSA, and the under expression of key genes in this pathway, such as GPAT, AGPAT, and LPIN, may be involved in the pathophysiological process of OSA. These findings not only provide a new perspective for understanding the pathogenesis of OSA but also offer new scientific evidence for the treatment of OSA from the perspective of glycerolipid metabolism regulation.